Nearly seven months after its Broken Arrow mosque proposal was denied, the Islamic Society of Tulsa filed a civil lawsuit against the city and four councilors who rejected its rezoning application and permit requests.
“I want to begin with the simple truth: None of us wanted to be here announcing a lawsuit. We wanted to build a place of worship for our community members who already live and contribute to the fabric of Broken Arrow,” said Aslam Syed, the Broken Arrow project lead for the Islamic Society, during a Monday press conference.
The organization alleges the city violated state and federal laws prohibiting religious discrimination when denying its requests to build a mosque and commercial complex in January. The 4-1 denial followed a special meeting that attracted more than 1,000 attendees and a social media frenzy of anti-Islamic comments.
Councilors said their decision was solely based on land use concerns like traffic congestion, water quality and compatibility with the city’s comprehensive plan. But a Tulsa Flyer investigation revealed some councilors privately agreed with anti-Islamic sentiments in their inboxes.
In its complaint, the Islamic Society asks the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma to require Broken Arrow to approve both of its applications. A city spokesperson declined to comment on litigation.
Attorneys from the Council on American-Islamic Relations Legal Defense Fund and Tulsa-based Laizure Law will represent the Islamic Society. Meghan Murphy, a CAIR staff attorney, claims Broken Arrow imposed “uniquely high engineering and evidentiary standards” on the mosque application that were not held to other institutions, including nearby churches.
The filing included emails between Mayor Debra Wimpee and Councilor Lisa Ford revealed in the Flyer’s investigation. Ford and Wimpee are named as plaintiffs in the case along with councilors Justin Green and David Pickel.
“The email communications by Mayor Wimpee and Councilor Ford reveal exactly why. They did not want a mosque in their city. They did not want Muslims here,” Murphy said. “So, they made up a reason, and in doing so they violated the law, and that is why we’re suing today.”
City officials said they solely looked at the land use decision in front of them — not religious bias.
“Our job is to look at each case the same way we do any other development that comes,” Green said prior to casting his vote Jan. 12. “We are not here to discuss freedom of religion. We’re not here to discuss which religion is right, which religion is wrong. We are here to look at this case on the merits and the facts that have been presented to us.”
Islamic Society Chairman Syed Newaz, a Broken Arrow resident for more than 30 years, emphasized the organization is not trying to sow more division in the community.
“It is our hope that this journey will ultimately strengthen our community, reaffirming the fundamental values that make Broken Arrow a place we are proud to call home: Fairness, respect, equal justice in the law and the freedom of neighbors and all faiths to live together in peace,” Newaz said.
The suit follows a flurry of activity in the mosque case. The U.S. Department of Justice informed the City of Broken Arrow of its investigation into potential violations of religious land use law July 17. City officials announced the probe in late July, prompting Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond to ask federal investigators to halt the inquiry.
Gadeir Abbas, the deputy litigation director for CAIR, said the DOJ investigation is running parallel to the Islamic Society’s case in federal court.
“We think that the court is going to see it exactly as we all saw it,” Abbas said. “This was Mayor Wimpee being overcome by the hysteria that engulfed Broken Arrow and led to this illegal decision.”
Islamic Society’s accusations against BA
Islamic Society leaders wrestled for months with whether the organization should file suit against the city. Ultimately, after the DOJ announced its inquiry and the Flyer published its investigation, they made their decision, Syed said.
“There were some holdouts on whether or not we should pursue this litigation, but once they saw (the Flyer’s) investigative reporting results, they were like, ‘let’s do this,’” said Syed.
The lawsuit itself focuses on three areas:
- Alleged violations of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, a federal law banning discrimination against religious institutions in land use regulations;
- Accusations the city and councilors violated the First and 14th Amendment rights of the Islamic Society of Tulsa;
- An alleged violation of the Oklahoma Religious Freedom Act, a state law prohibiting governments from substantially burdening a person’s free exercise of religion unless the government can demonstrate the burden is essential to furthering its interests.
While Syed said email communications from city councilors motivated Islamic Society leaders to file suit, OU-Tulsa professor and former Tulsa Mayor Rodger Randle told reporters the court is charged with examining whether city leaders applied higher standards to the mosque proposal than to similar projects — not if city councilors personally held discriminatory beliefs.
The complaint points to nearby developments, including applications for Harvest Church, Church on the Move, Aspen Creek Villas and Aequitas Tucson Development, that earned council approval despite some officials sharing concerns similar to the ones they cited for the mosque.
“Discrimination has to be proved, correct. But the discrimination that is proved is that this project was handled differently than (similar) projects in the same situation,” Randle said. “It does not have to be proved, the mental — the mens rea — of those who made the decision to discriminate.”
Randle, who served as Tulsa’s mayor from 1988 to 1992, said some might wonder why he is interested in this case.
“The answer is because this is not a Broken Arrow matter. This is an American matter,” Randle said. “Freedom of religion, respect for diverse religions, has been basic to this country since the very founding.”
The Broken Arrow City Council is expected to meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday to privately discuss litigation related to the mosque case during executive session. Then, during its 6:30 p.m. meeting, councilors will consider a contract for legal services for the DOJ investigation and other litigation. If approved, the city will pay Atlanta-based law firm Troutman Pepper Locke $925 per hour for its work.
Disclosure: Rodger Randle serves on the board of directors for the Tulsa Flyer. News decisions at the Tulsa Flyer are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
