A developer who sued for discrimination after New Orleans officials blocked her proposed housing project asked a judge on Thursday to rule on the matter and said text messages from one official and from project critics prove her case.
A text message and deposition from City Councilmember Freddie King III, unsealed Thursday in federal court, show city officials “were motivated by discriminatory intent” when they halted the project, wrote attorneys for Stanton Square, the development firm owned by Xinhong Zhang.
In a February 2023 exchange after the council voted to temporarily block the planned affordable apartment complex near well-to-do English Turn, a friend of King’s asked the reason for his vote…