Texas:
Politicians Step Up Attacks on Muslims

May 18, 2026

When right-wing commentators in Texas began to attack a real estate development in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, calling it names like “an Islamic stronghold” and “Sharia City,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott jumped on the bandwagon. The development was “structured in a way that requires anybody who bought a lot there to abide by Sharia law,” Abbott said.

It was a lie. The development had no religious requirement whatsoever. It’s just that the developers happen to be Muslim. But the die was cast. State agencies launched investigations against the development. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed two lawsuits, seeking to ban the project. The Department of Justice of Donald Trump, who himself has often attacked Muslims, launched its own investigation—which it quickly closed without finding anything to hold against the development.

Candidates running in Texas primaries have made this anti-Muslim smoke-and-mirror show a central theme of their campaigns. Republican legislators in the state have also stepped up anti-Muslim rhetoric. The state’s two senators, John Cronyn and Ted Cruz, have repeatedly said things like, “Sharia law has no place in American courts.” These demagogues pretend that Muslims are “taking over Texas.” Never mind that Muslims make up less than one percent of the state’s population.

But the attacks haven’t stayed at the level of words. January 6 “insurgent” and right-wing “influencer” Jake Lang went to a mosque in the area with copy of the Koran stuck inside a dead pig’s head.

The threat of racist violence never lurks too far behind the politicians’ words, as the history of the U.S. amply shows.