Residents of a Farmersville, Texas, a town located about 25 miles from the site of a Garland attack by two radical Islamists – who were then shot by local police – say they’ll do whatever it takes to keep a Muslim cemetery away from their county, even if it means dumping pig parts on the requested property site.
Members of the Islamic Association of Collin County have proposed building a cemetery in the small Texas town and have petitioned city council for permit permission, the Daily Mail reported. But many in the community say no way – the property is located too close to the site of a radical Islamist terror attack on those participating in a “Draw Muhammed” contest in Garland.
And some in the town of 3,000 are vowing extreme measures to make their point.
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“The concern for us is the radical element of Islam,” said David Meeks, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, to the Dallas Morning News. “How can we stop a mosque or madrassa training center from going in there?”
One woman who lives nearby the 35 acres proposed for cemetery construction called the idea “appalling,” the Daily Mail said.
Another said to the local planning and zoning commission said, “I do not want my child indoctrinated toward their religion. I do not want to be constantly in view of a mosque.”
CBS Dallas-Fort Worth reported one man has even gone so far as to threaten to “dump pigs’ blood” and put pig heads on a “post” in order to keep the Muslims from buying the land. Other critics say the request from the Muslim crowd could result in a health hazard, given those of the faith don’t generally bury their dead in caskets.
The mayor, however, said fears are unfounded.
“There’s just a basic concern or distrust about the cemetery coming into town,” Mayor Joe Helmberger said, the Daily Mail reported.
He said the cemetery would be approved as long as the town’s development standards are met.
There are about five Muslim cemeteries in North Texas and they have little remaining space, so the association needs more land for burial, said Alia Salem, executive director of the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Salem told the Associated Press that state rules limit the places where a new cemetery can be placed, and Farmersville was one of the few options open to the association.
