Texas Governor Weighs In on Proposed City Described as the ‘Epicenter of Islam’ in Rural Texas

Critics worry that the project would attract a large Muslim population that would adhere to sharia and reject assimilating.

Demonstrators listen to civil rights and legal advocates, as residents hold a press conference outside One Police Plaza in New York to discuss planned legal action challenging the city police department's surveillance of businesses frequented by Muslim residents and area mosques, on June 18, 2013. Timothy Clary/AFP/Getty Images

JOSEPHINE, Texas—Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on Monday that a proposed 402-acre city advertised as the “epicenter of Islam in America” to be built outside a rural Texas town won’t be allowed.

Abbott responded on Feb. 24 to an internet video for the proposed EPIC City and EPIC Ranches near the town of Josephine, Texas, about 40 miles east of Dallas, saying the project wouldn’t be allowed based on an advertisement for the planned development.