MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Opponents of a new mosque in Murfreesboro are asking for a temporary restraining order to stop construction at the site.
A complaint filed in Rutherford County Chancery Court late Thursday names numerous county officials as defendants and claims they violated state law by not providing adequate notice of the meeting where the mosque was approved.
The complaint also claims that a burial at the mosque site should have been the subject of a public meeting.
County Attorney Jim Cope denied the claims.
“We believe meeting notice was adequate and met the requirements of the law,” he said. Cope said a public hearing was not required to approve the site plan of the new Islamic Center of Murfreesboro because the land was already zoned for it.
As to the burial, Cope said state law doesn’t govern private burials. “We think that it was done appropriately,” he said.
Kevin Fisher, who organized a march against the mosque, is one of the plaintiffs. Fisher also organized a petition drive asking the County Commission to rescind approval of the mosque.
The suit claims that Fisher and other plaintiffs “have suffered mental anguish, fear, anxiety, loss of reputation, loss of earnings and emotional distress.”
Several calls to Fisher went straight to voicemail and he did not immediately return them.
Along with the request for a temporary restraining order, the suit asks that the court declare void the Rutherford County Planning Commission’s approval of the mosque’s site plan in May.
The suit does not ask the court to void other decisions made by the Planning Commission using the same notice procedures. Plaintiffs’ attorney Joe Brandon Jr. said he did not know what effect a favorable ruling might have on other decisions.
Members of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro say they need to build a new mosque because they have outgrown their rented space in an industrial park. Worshippers routinely have to stand outside during regular prayer services and the space is much too small to hold big events, like weddings.
A number of opponents have said they are against the new mosque because they believe Muslims want to take over the United States and turn it into an Islamic theocracy. However, they have not been able to show that local Muslims have such plans.
The controversy surrounding the mosque has made national news and has become increasingly intense. In recent weeks, one opponent reported she had received death threats, and the mosque construction site saw the arson of a dump truck, which many Islamic Center members have interpreted as a threat.
The FBI is investigating the fire, and spokesman Joel Siskovic has said the agency is aware of the reports of death threats, although he would not confirm whether those reports were under investigation.