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(current at 730pm ET Wednesday)
Construction work continued on a Murfreesboro, Tenn., mosque Wednesday despite a judge’s ruling a day earlier voiding building permits for the controversial project.
Chancellor Robert Corlew III of the 16th District Chancery Court ruled that construction must cease because not enough notice was given about a May 24, 2010, public meeting in which Rutherford County planning commissioners approved the site plan for the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro.
“This is Sharia law,” Joe Brandon, plaintiffs’ attorney, said of construction continuing without a valid permit. “They’re thumbing their nose at the state of Tennessee.”
Brandon lodged an order Wednesday at the Chancery Court asking that construction at the mosque be stopped completely.
The county had not issued a stop work order by the end of Wednesday, Brandon said.
“If it were you or I, they’d be out there and stop us,” Brandon charged. “The county attorney needs to man up and tell them to stop.”
Corlew ruled in favor of Kevin Fisher and other Rutherford County residents who sued the Planning Commission. The mosque is free to reapply for permits, he said.
“It’s a good day for the plaintiffs; I’m very pleased with the outcome,” plaintiff Henry Golcyznky said, adding he was somewhat surprised Corlew ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor.
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