Arlington Republican lawmaker criticized for Ramadan vote apologizes for comments

An Arlington Republican who faced backlash after voting against a resolution celebrating the Muslim holy month of Ramadan says he has since met with Arlington’s mayor and members of the Muslim community and apologized.

State Rep. Tony Tinderholt last month posted a statement on Twitter explaining his vote against the resolution. In it, he said that as a combat veteran, he served with many translators who were “Muslims and good people.”

The statement also read: “I can also attest that Ramadan was routinely the most violent period during every deployment. Texas and America were founded on Christian principles and my faith as a Christian prevents me from celebrating Ramadan. I want to commend Dan Patrick for choosing not to join the House in this celebration.”

Some criticized Tinderholt, including the The Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who condemned the statement. Tinderholt’s tweet with the statement was deleted from Twitter as of Wednesday.

The lawmaker Wednesday said on Twitter that he’d met with Arlington Mayor Jim Ross and members of the local Muslim community and apologized.

“I would like to thank Mayor Ross and leaders from the local Muslim community for meeting with me to discuss recent comments I made that were interpreted as offensive to them and their religion,” the post reads. “I was able to apologize for the misunderstanding and talk with them. We are all aware of how truly important that freedom of religion is in this amazing country and the great state of Texas. They were generous and kind during our meeting and again, I would like to extend my sincerest apologies to the Muslim community. Thank you for meeting with me!”

Tinderholt did not immediately return a call or texts seeking comment.

In March, the Arlington Mayor’s Muslim Advisory Council and Levitt Arlington cohosted its first American Muslim Cultural Celebration. Ross confirmed that a number of people actively involved in the council were also at the meeting with Tinderholt.

Ross said members of the Muslim community reached out to him and asked him to broker the meeting, which was held the weekend of April 1.

“The intent was to allow the Muslim community to express their concerns with having a tweet like that and provide Representative Tinderholt an opportunity to explain why that happened an his meaning behind it,” Ross said. “I found both sides very amicable.”

Yaman Subei, chair of the mayor’s council, was among those who went to the meeting. He had concerns that Tinderholt voted against the resolution and that he tweeted about it.

“The bigger concern then beyond that is whenever you have a politician go and tweet publicly information that just creates hate and division in the community, we immediately as a community feel the impact because it just empowers more hate,” Subei said. “That was a concern that we shared with him also.”

He saw the meeting as a success and said Tinderholt came in with an open mind.

“We listened to him, and he listened to us, and it was a very positive meeting,” Subei said.

Subei said attendees had specific steps they wanted Tinderholt to take, including a public apology on Twitter.

“It’s the right thing to do and.. he was truthful to his words, and ultimately it’s the least that he can do in my opinion, for the damages,” Subei said.

Tinderholt has also been asked to support future bills or resolutions related to the Muslim community and their freedom to practice their faith in Texas, Subei said. Additionally, they’ve asked Tinderholt come visit local mosques and learn more about the Muslim community.

William White, director of the Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he met with Tinderholt in a meeting separate from the one mentioned in Wednesday’s tweet.

“We want to thank Rep. Tinderholt for his willingness to meet with CAIR and his Muslim constituents to discuss his statement about Ramadan,” White said. “Despite our differences, Texans can celebrate and learn from each other. It is refreshing and welcomed that Representative Tinderholt took the time to listen, learn, and issue an apology.”

Chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party Allison Campolo called Tinderholt’s tweet “the worst apology” in a Wednesday post. In it, she quoted part of Tinderholt’s post where he said his comments “were interpreted as offensive to them and their religion.”

“This is the worst apology,” Campolo’s tweet reads. ”Not even an apology. ‘Sorry if you got your feelings hurt when I was a bigot’. Ugh. Disappointed I got drawn into your district.”