Hawzah News Agency (Virginia, USA) - The US Justice Department is suing a Virginia county accused of discriminating against Muslim residents who want to build a small mosque.

Federal prosecutors said that authorities in Culpeper violated the rights of the Islamic Center of Culpeper when it denied the sewage permit for their new house of worship.

The county had never denied an application in 26 attempts since 1992, according to the suit filed Monday, which says the county violated a federal law on religious discrimination and land use passed in 2000.

The Islamic Center of Culpeper, currently operating out of a small home, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about how it will proceed after the federal suit.

The town's Muslims currently pray in a home next to the car dealership of Mohammad Nawabe.

Department of Justice statistics from earlier this year say that 30% of its investigations under the law since 2010 have involved alleged discrimination against Muslims.

Hundreds of angry anti-Islam protesters packed a town hall in Newton County, Ga., in August to oppose a mosque in Covington, resulting in authorities putting a temporary ban on all religious building permits.

Though the permit moratorium ended in September, a report from KERA last month said the Georgia project is “still on hold.”

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