Lino Lakes councilor asked to resign after declaring Islamaphobic email the 'best I have ever received'

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) is calling for the resignation of a Lino Lakes City Council member who called an Islamophobic email the "best I have ever received. "

In response to a New York Times article on the Madinah Lakes development project, someone sent an anti-Muslim email to reporter Dan Barry, current Lino Lakes City Council member Christopher Lyden, and CAIR National and CAIR-MN staff.

The project, which would provide community facilities including houses, commercial businesses, and a 400,000-square-foot mosque, was halted in July following community pushback. This included several comments made by residents during a public meeting that were Islamophobic or racist.

The author's email states that "Islam hates us" and that "Islam's our declared enemy." The email further insults the Quaran, which is the holy text for Muslims, calling it "hate speech against Jews and Christians." At the end of the email, he requests Lyden not to send this email to everyone and says, "Good luck halting the Muslim conquest of Minnesota."

Lyden responded to the email chain as follows: "Might be the best email I have ever received! Thank you, Sir!" Bring Me The News confirmed this email to be authentic.

"Mr Lyden gave his enthusiastic approval for a hateful, anti-Muslim screed. How can someone who endorses such views be expected to represent Muslim citizens of Lino Lakes?" CAIR-MN Executive Director Jaylani Hussein said in a statement. "We urge the city council to repudiate Mr. Lyden and his anti-Muslim bigotry. We call on Mr. Lyden to resign."

Bring Me The News has contacted Lyden for comment on the issue, but he has not responded yet.

Related: Lino Lakes approves building moratorium, halting development proposal