Muslim group threatens to sue Newton County over blocked Georgia mosque

The vote by Newton County commissioners to temporarily block the construction of a mosque along a busy highway has spurred a threat of a federal lawsuit and calls for a Justice Department investigation.

The NAACP and more than a dozen Muslim groups called for a federal probe over a Tuesday vote by county commissioners to impose a five-week moratorium on permits for all places of worship after residents raised concerns over plans by Al Maad Al Islami for a mosque, cemetery and burial facility on a 135-acre tract of land.

Edward Ahmed Mitchell, who heads the Georgia chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations, called it a “clearly discriminatory decision.”

“Newton’s county commissioners abandoned their oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution, as well as their own local laws, because of fear and bigotry,” he said.

Read more: http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2016/08/19/muslim-group-threatens-to-sue-newton-county-over-blocked-georgia-mosque/