DOJ quietly closes investigation into Texas Muslim-centric housing development EPIC City

The Justice Department this month month quietly closed its investigation of a proposed Muslim-centric housing development near Dallas that some prominent Texas Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott, warned could bring Sharia law to the Lone Star State.

The DOJ formally notified EPIC City developer Community Capital Partners [CCP] in a June 13 letter that it found no civil rights violations involving the proposed project. The DOJ also said it closed its probe without filing any charges or lawsuits against those involved with the EPIC City, which is planned for North Texas town of Josephine.

“CCP has affirmed that all will be welcome in any future development,” the letter said.

DOJ officials launched the investigation after U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who’s facing a tough 2026 primary against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, asked the DOJ in April to open an investigation into EPIC City. In his request, he voiced concern that those of other faiths, including Christians and Jews, wouldn’t be allowed to live there.

Cornyn’s assumption came even though the East Plano Islamic Center, which is behind EPIC City, never said it would bar people of non-Muslim faiths.

Even so, Texas conservatives have engaged in online fear-mongering about the project since its was announced in a YouTube video last year.

In response to online conspiracy theories, Abbott this spring ordered CCP to halt construction on EPIC City, maintaining that the company hadn’t secured the correct permits to proceed. That same month, Paxton’s office launched an investigation into whether the developer violated state consumer protection laws.

In a statement to the Houston Chronicle, Nihad Awad, the national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he welcomed the end of the DOJ’s investigation and encouraged Texas Republicans to stop demonizing the state’s Muslim community.

“Elected officials should respect the Constitution and serve all state residents instead of abusing their authority to discriminate against Muslims,” Awad said.

The pushback against EPIC City comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of Muslims in Texas and nationwide, in part due to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

CAIR recorded 8,658 complaints about anti-Muslim and anti-Arab incidents last year, a 7.4% year-over-year rise. Last year’s total was the highest number since 1996, the year the advocacy group first began compiling data.

Republicans’ online anti-Muslim rhetoric has been on full display since Zohran Mamdani, a Ugandan Muslim socialist of Indian descent, last week won the New York City Democratic mayoral primary.

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This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 9, 2025.