Despite massive opposition, the McKinney City Council in Texas voted Tuesday to approve the construction of a giant new mosque.
The McKinney Islamic Association, which Dallas station KDFW notes “has been a part of the community since the 1990s,” has been trying to build a new mosque compound in town for a couple of years but was originally blocked because the planned buildings didn’t meet city standards.
Years later, the association has submitted a new plan that officials say does meet city standards. The problem now, however, is that many of the city’s residents have since woken up to the threat of radical Islam.
“The freedom to choose our faith or not does not exist in political Islam. Ask any Muslim what the penalty is for leaving political Islam. It’s death,” Rep. Keith Self, a Republican, warned during Tuesday’s city council hearing.
🚨 HEROES ROSE IN MCKINNEY TONIGHT – AND CONGRESSMAN KEITH SELF DELIVERED THE TRUTH WITHOUT FLINCHING
While residents packed the room, U.S. Congressman Keith Self looked the Mayor and City Council dead in the eye and refused to soft-pedal reality.
By the way, take a moment to… https://t.co/tlPCdzsDZX pic.twitter.com/p7naq1xXzK
— Amy Mek (@AmyMek) August 5, 2026
“I have any number of videos of imams in America, modern day America, preaching sedition, open sedition against the US Constitution and the laws of this land,” Self continued. “Fourteen hundred years of history. You can’t get away from it.”
“This is your time though. This is your moment of truth. This is your time for choosing. This is your time to choose to honor your oath that starts with the US Constitution. There is no state cavalry coming to save you. This is your time. I yield back the balance of my time and I’ll say goodnight,” he added.
He was one of hundreds of opponents who showed up to the McKinney City Council meeting Tuesday to express their opposition, including state Rep. Keresa Richardson.
According to Texas Monthly, Richardson for her part cited state probes launched last year by Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton into the Texas Islamic Tribunal and noted that the McKinney Islamic Association’s own imam is a member of the disgraced tribunal.
Paxton warned in a press release at the time that the tribunal “is a Dallas-based entity that claims to exercise jurisdiction over all aspects of Muslim life.”
“Islamic Tribunal seeks to impose sharia law on all disputes among Texas Muslims and falsely represents that its decisions are final judgements with ‘the approval of the Texas Judicial system,'” the press release continued.
Listen to Richardson’s hearing remarks below:
🚨WATCH🚨 @KeresaForTexas calls on the McKinney City Council to pause final action approving the revised site plan of a mosque while the mosque’s Imam is under state investigation.
We stand with Rep. Richardson, a member of our caucus, for standing with her district. pic.twitter.com/qC8GgUxFO5
— Sharia-Free Texas Caucus (@ShariaFreeTX) August 5, 2026
“The Governor warned that this entity may be crossing from predictive religious mediation into conduct that could violate Texas criminal law,” she said of the Islamic Tribunal. “In April of 2026, Attorney General Kim Paxton issued a formal request to examine this Islamic Tribunal as part of the landmark investigation into an alleged effort to impose Sharia.”
“The Attorney General stated that the group has sought to replace actual courts of law, impose Sharia on disputes among Texas Muslims, and falsely represent its decisions as final judgments without the approval of the Texas judicial system,” she added.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle, former nonpartisan McKinney Mayor George Fuller defended the desired mosque and the association’s members.
“For American Muslim neighbors at McKinney Islamic Association, sharia is understood as a personal religious framework,” he alleged. “Yes, every religion and every culture has its extremists and radicals, and they should be condemned wherever they exist, but that is not who we’re talking about tonight.”
“We’re talking about families who have spent decades serving this community and raising their children here, and demonstrating their actions by the values they live by,” he added.
Locals didn’t appear to appreciate his defense of the mosque:
Former mayor of McKinney, George Fuller gets boo’d and assaulted as he walked out of the city council meeting. pic.twitter.com/ATYD3i1TI9
— Kaylee Campbell (@kaylee_ashlynn) August 4, 2026
Texas Monthly notes that the association and its members have been gathering at another mosque location in Eldorado Parkway since 2009. The outlet further argues that the need for a new mosque is based on the association’s growing congregation.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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