Small Texas town rises up against planned Muslim cemetery - then AG Jeff Sessions steps in

A small Texas town objected to plans for a massive Muslim cemetery to be constructed, but it all changed after the office of the U.S. Attorney stepped in.

Here's what happened

In 2015 more than a hundred residents of Farmersville squeezed into the city council meeting to protest plans by the Islamic Association of Collin County, a Muslim group that planned to construct a Muslim cemetery on 34 acres of land they owned in the city.

“It is my duty and my right to warn when there is a danger,” one resident said.

“We used to grow onions here," Mont Hendrick added. "We sure enough don’t want to be growing bodies.”

One man recommended spilling pig's blood on the property and posting a pig's head on a post to keep the Muslim organization from buying the land.

In 2017, the project was unanimously approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, despite the resident's spirited objections. The Islamic Association hoped for 15,000 burial plots.

Three years after the contentious city council meeting, the cemetery has still not been approved, and the U.S. Attorney's office is stepping in - to help the Muslims build on the land they own.

"It was a shock"

According to CBS-DFW, the U.S. Attorney's office told the city of Farmville that they are violating the religious rights of the Islamic Association by dragging their heels on approval for their cemetery.

The U.S. Attorney's office has ordered Farmersville to stop stonewalling the cemetery, and they will back a lawsuit against the city unless they allow it.

"It was a shock," said Mayor Randy Rice, "hopefully we can get it done and move forward. There is still some resistance in the city."

The Department of Justice will not file the lawsuit unless the Islamic Association and the city are unable to come to an agreement to allow plans for the cemetery to move forward.

Here's the local news report about the cemetery: