“An event at a city-owned pool that was publicly and indiscriminately advertised as ‘whites only’ would surely violate the Constitution,” the executive director of the state Public Safety Office wrote. “The same must be true here.”
A city-owned water park in Grand Prairie has canceled a “Muslims only” day after the Texas Public Safety Office sent a letter on Wednesday threatening to pull approximately $530,000 in grants from the city for “discriminating based on religion.”
Epic Waters Indoor Water Park, operated by American Resort Management, LLC, had advertised the event as closed to the public and open only to Muslims, as part of a June 1 Eid celebration.
“An event at a city-owned pool that was publicly and indiscriminately advertised as ‘whites only’ would surely violate the Constitution,” Andrew Friedrichs, executive director of the state PSO, wrote. “The same must be true here.”
Friedrichs pointed to five PSO grants active in the city, and said Grand Prairie was “in breach with respect to all grant agreements” unless it confirmed in writing that the event would not take place on city property and committed to “never allowing a ‘Muslim only’ event to occur in property owned or operated by the city.”