Lino Lakes City Council censures member accused of anti-Muslim conduct

LINO LAKES, Minn. — The Lino Lakes City Council passed a vote Monday night to censure one of its members accused of anti-Islamic conduct.

Chris Lyden came under fire for seeming to applaud an anti-Muslim email. The email in question contained "very significant negative and derogatory commentary related to the Koran and the Muslim faith," according to the council's resolution. It was allegedly sent in response to a New York Times article on the development of the Madinah Lakes Project, which aims to convert 156 acres of a sod farm in the city into a community that includes a mosque, businesses and housing.

Tuesday night's censure resolution, which said Lyden's reply to the email was "inappropriate and reflects poorly on the City," passed three to one.   

Lyden took issue with the wording and content of the resolution, in addition to denying allegations of prejudice.

"I made no judgment, shared no opinion on the actual content of the said email," Lyden said. "I suggest you throw [the resolution] in the wastebasket."

Lyden said in his various roles as a council member, coach and teacher he has "never, ever been accused of being a racist."

The Madinah Lakes Project has divided residents for the past several months, with multiple contentious city meetings and online petitions for and against it yielding hundreds of votes each, with slightly more signatures in favor of pausing it.

Despite an expected moratorium on the project, the City Council voted 3-2 in July to table the proposal. City leaders and some residents have insisted that issues like water availability, safety and cost were their main concerns and not the possible influx of Muslim residents.