Overview
- The city, which confirmed the decision Wednesday night, scrapped the June 1 DFW Epic Eid at the city-owned Epic Waters after the governor’s Public Safety Office warned the city could lose about $530,000 in grants.
- A letter from PSO Executive Director Andrew Friedrichs said early flyers billed the gathering as “Muslim only,” compared it to a “Whites only” event, and set a May 11 deadline to cancel to avoid breaching grant terms tied to civil-rights compliance.
- Organizer Aminah Knight said the party was a private rental meant for families who value modest dress and later revised materials to say “all are welcome” with a modest-dress code, including burkinis for women.
- Epic Waters is a taxpayer-funded, city-owned indoor water park that is available for private rentals, which put the event’s faith-based expectations under rules that bar exclusion at public facilities.
- Abbott called the original restriction unconstitutional, cited HB 4211, and has recently used similar funding threats to push cities on other policies, a tactic that could shape how local governments manage private events on public property.