After immense pressure from citizens, a decisive majority of the Broken Arrow City Council voted against a rezoning request that would have allowed a mosque to be built in the Oklahoma town.
The 4-1 vote on Monday night came after several weeks of packed meetings and public debate, per a report from KOTV in Tulsa.
There were more than 400 residents signed up to testify on the issue, according to a report from The Christian Post.
There are currently 10,000 Muslims in the Tulsa area, and the plans for the mosque — which would have been built on land bought in 2014 by the North American Islamic Trust — were meant to deal with crowding at the first facility.
🚨 BREAKING: In a MASSIVE victory, the City of Broken Arrow in Oklahoma has REJECTED construction of a massive Islamic Center
Hundreds of patriot residents showed up and made their voices heard!
The final vote was 4-1 in DENIAL.
DEFEND THE WEST! 🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Apy2jCPeoM
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 13, 2026
Islamic leaders and Democratic Party activists were upset by the decision against the rezoning, saying it was an example of religious bigotry.
“Zoning has long been used as a Trojan horse for discrimination, and what happened in Broken Arrow made that painfully clear,” the Tulsa County Democratic Party reacted, per KOTV.
Tulsa County Commissioner Kelly Dunkerley meanwhile said it was the correct move.
“In this case, this was the right decision,” Dunkerley remarked. “I get that there’s emotions attached to it. But you really have to stay focused on those facts, because that’s what’s best for the community.”
Oklahoma State Sen. Christi Gillespie, a Republican who represents Broken Arrow, also commended the final vote.
“Last night’s decision reflects what many residents have been saying for years: the city of Broken Arrow must follow its Comprehensive Plan and protect long-term economic growth in our community,” she said.
“This proposal did not comply with the Comprehensive Plan’s clear designation of this corridor for commercial and employment-focused development, nor did it adequately address serious concerns related to infrastructure, traffic capacity, stormwater and floodplain management.”
But other lawmakers noted the religious and civilizational dynamics at play.
Oklahoma State Sen. Dusty Deevers, a Republican who pastors a church in Elgin, wrote at the Center for Baptist Leadership that “what happened in Broken Arrow is also a window into something bigger” beyond zoning rules.
Islam qualifies as a religion in the narrow sense of possessing a deity and theological framework. But it is also a militaristic ideology bent on conquest by the sword.
This is evidenced by the unbroken line of jihad from Muslim forces laying siege to Constantinople in 664 to… pic.twitter.com/HwJLm6Z31h
— Dusty Deevers (@DustyDeevers) January 15, 2026
“Many Americans, especially Christians, sense that the question is not merely ‘Can a building be built here?’ They sense a civilizational tension between Islam and America, but struggle to name it accurately or reconcile their deeply rooted uneasiness with the welcoming spirit and Christian sensibilities that have long defined American civil life,” he described.
“Certainly, Christians should defend the equal protection of the laws for all people, including Muslims,” Deevers noted. “Christians must also refuse naïveté about movements seeking to exploit and subvert welcoming societies, namely Christian nations.”
“The path forward requires clarity, honest history, and sober policy judgment, paired with an unapologetic gospel mission from the Church.”
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