December 2, 2025

By Mary Beth Gahan

FLOWER MOUND, Texas — After an Afghan national was accused of shooting two National Guard members in Washington D.C., Flower Mound’s Rep. Brandon Gill posted on social media that “Islam is the problem.”

The post has 1,500 comments and was shared hundreds of times — including by  Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who wrote, “Amen!”

Later, Rep. Gill expanded on his statement. He posted again to his social media pages and sent an email to subscribers and constituents on Monday morning with the subject, “Islamic Ideology Has No Place in the West.”

“The reality is that not all cultures are morally equal. Islam is incompatible with our culture and our governing system,” he wrote on Facebook. “Radical Islamists seek to fundamentally destroy our way of life.”

After some people disagreed with him in the comments, he wrote, “I don’t care if I’m called Islamophobic.”

A request for comment and clarification from Rep. Gill went unanswered.

There are several mosques in North Texas, including one across the street from Flower Mound High School in Rep. Gill’s district. A Pew Research study found that one percent of the adult population in Dallas-Fort Worth identifies as Muslim — about 60,000 people.

Officials have not released a motive in the shooting, which killed West Virginia National Guard Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, but Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on “Meet the Press” that they believe the suspect was radicalized in the U.S.

“We believe he was radicalized since he’s been here in this country,” she said.