During public comment Tuesday, a man pretending to be a Muslim supporter of the project, donned in an obviously fake beard and oversized turban, launched into an intentionally exaggerated speech filled with stereotypes about Islam, Sharia law and Muslims—apparently as satire aimed at the opposition gathered inside City Hall.
“Assalamu alaikum. My name is Mahdt Rostamizadeh Durka Durka Mohammed Hezbollah Nijad Hamas,” the speaker began, before telling council members he supported the mosque because it would supposedly pave the way for a “Sharia board.”
The room erupted almost immediately.
Audience members booed while the speaker paused and asked whether he could “reclaim” his time. At least a couple of people appeared to take the performance literally, shouting for him to “go back home” as he continued.
The speaker then leaned further into the bit, claiming the fictional Sharia board would force overweight women to wear burqas, balding men to wear turbans and eventually change the U.S. Constitution to prohibit alcohol—before pretending to discover that Americans had already tried that with the 18th Amendment.
The performance unfolded during a marathon McKinney City Council meeting over plans by the McKinney Islamic Association to build a larger religious campus along Virginia Parkway. City records show the proposal calls for a religious assembly site at 5301, 5311 and 5321 Virginia Parkway.
Despite hours of heated public comment, the council ultimately approved the project 7-0.
For weeks, however, the development drew concern from residents over traffic concerns, but much of the public comment veered into openly anti-Muslim and Islamophobic rhetoric. More than 150 people signed up to speak at Tuesday’s meeting ahead of the vote, which former McKinney Mayor George Fuller described the situation as “the worst behavior of our community,” according to WFAA.
The episode also echoes another North Texas mosque controversy Chron covered earlier this year in Frisco, where residents packed a council meeting to protest a proposed Islamic center even though city officials repeatedly explained the project already had zoning approval. Some speakers there made sweeping claims about Muslims, immigration and what they believed represented Texas culture.
That meeting similarly drew outside political figures and activists into the debate, including right-wing provocateur Jake Lang, who a judge later barred from returning to Texas.
Whether everyone in the room understood Tuesday’s performance was satire is another matter.
Judging by the chorus of boos—and the people shouting at the fake Muslim speaker to “go back home”—the truth may be somewhere in between.