By Rita Cook
Correspondent
Texas Metro News
AUSTIN – The City of Grand Prairie just got a dose of Austin politics when Texas Governor Greg Abbott decided to weigh in on the allowing of a planned private event at Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark.
The private event scheduled for June 1 was for EID, short for Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice) in the Muslim faith. EID occurs around May 27–29 this year and marks the end of Ramadan, which this year began around March 19 to 20.
The EID event at Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark was cancelled last week after the governor got involved.
Grand Prairie was under fire after Abbott threatened to pull state funding over the Epic Waters event.
Abbott weighed in on the controversy surrounding the planned private event at Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark due to the park being city owned.
In a statement posted online, Abbott said the “city-owned water park” had openly advertised a ‘Muslims Only’ event.
He called it “religious discrimination” and “unconstitutional.”
Abbott said the event was not only unconstitutional, but he referred to HB 4211, which he reminded he had signed into law banning Muslim only no-go zones in Texas.
Texas House Bill 4211 was signed into law during the 89th Legislature in September 2025. It was signed to “regulate residential property developments controlled by business entities, specifically targeting arrangements like the “EPIC City” project in North Texas.”
The key details of the law addressed “business entity-owned residential arrangements,” where buying an interest in a business entity grants exclusive possession of residential property (single-family, duplex, triplex, or quadruplex). The law also prohibited developments from imposing Sharia law, creating restrictive religious compounds, or engaging in discriminatory housing practices and required that purchase agreements disclose buyers purchasing an interest in a business entity, rather than the property itself.
The Governor said Grand Prairie could lose as much as $530,000 in state grants if the event was not canceled and if the city is not willing to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future.
A letter from the Executive Director of the Texas Public Safety Office to Grand Prairie Mayor Ron Jensen stated, “This letter serves to notify you that PSO considers the city to be in breach with respect to all grant agreements between the city and PSO for fiscal year 2026.”
It was required the mayor to respond by May 11 and confirm in writing the city would not permit “this discriminatory event to occur on property owned or operated by the city and commit to never allowing a “Muslim Only” event to occur on property owned or operated by the city.”
The situation began when promotional materials were released for the private Muslim buyout event that was a specific “Muslims only” gathering. Later the organizers of the event said it was open to everyone, but criticism and debate across social media continued to increase after the situation was revealed.
The city had originally stated it would work with Epic Waters management to ensure policies were being adhered to, but Grand Prairie officials posted at the city’s Facebook page last week they cancelled the EID event.
The cancellation was decided “After growing public discussion surrounding the private event that had been scheduled at the city-owned facility” the Facebook post stated.
Abbott also said in his posted statement “Let this be a lesson to local officials; facilities funded by all taxpayers are not just for a subset of Texans.”
Rita Cook is a world traveler and writer/editor who specializes in writing on travel, auto, crime and politics. A correspondent for Texas Metro News, she has published 11 books and has also produced low-budget films.
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