Texas AG Ken Paxton is demanding information from Grapevine-Colleyville and Cypress-Fairbanks ISDs as part of an investigation into Islamic Games of North...
The Islamic Games were scheduled to be held at a Dallas-area high school’s facilities in May but rental negotiations were canceled.The information demands are part of “an ongoing investigation regarding the schools’ ties to the athletic group Islamic Games of North America, which hosts events sponsored by a chapter of a designated foreign terrorist organization — the Council on American-Islamic Relations,” Paxton’s office said in a news release Wednesday.
in May, but district officials canceled rental negotiations with organizers. Grapevine-Colleyville ISD said it was made aware of potential ties between Islamic Games and CAIR on Jan. 19. That led to a “severing” of the negotiations over using the facilities.Paxton said that the Islamic Games hosts events sponsored by the CAIR — a claim that the sports festival’s organizers have pushed back on., the country’s largest organization focused on advocating for the civil rights of Muslims, to be a “foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organization” in November.“If school districts are continuing to promote or partner with organizations tied to an , that ends now,” said Paxton in the news release.In an email, Islamic Games organizers said that CAIR has “never been a sponsor” of its events. It also condemned negative comments about the grassroots advocacy group. In 2023, CAIR-New Jersey donated complimentary drawstring bags to distribute to athletes, organizers said.This year would not have been the first time the Islamic Games was held at a Grapevine-Colleyville ISD venue. Colleyville Heritage High School has hosted the sports festival since 2023, according to the statement from the Islamic Games. Organizers still plan to hold the event during the summer.“We are deeply concerned that voices have become so hateful that they would target a sporting event for children,” organizers said.The Islamic Games were started in 1989 by a group of Muslim youths in New York. Now, the sports festival is hosted across the country and Canada, including in Michigan and California,Paxton’s directive comes as the state is intensifying its crackdown on CAIR. Abbott sent a letter to Paxton on Wednesday urging him to shut down CAIR operations in Texas, since the attorney general is the elected official charged with investigating nonprofits. Abbott said the organization is “pretending to engage in charity by day, while sponsoring terror by night.” “You have used these tools before,” Abbott said in the letter. “I urge you to use them to combat CAIR.” Texas politicians are targeting CAIR because of its support of Palestinian rights and opposition against the Israeli government’s military campaign in Gaza, the organization said in a statement.The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas. The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.Jessica Ma covers education at The Dallas Morning News. She previously had reporting stints at The Boston Globe, The Chicago Sun-Times and The Sacramento Bee. She is a recent graduate of Northwestern University, where she studied journalism, American studies and political science.
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