TULSA, Okla. (AP) – A small Indian tribe is violating a federal order that bars activity at the site of a partially built casino in a Tulsa suburb by operating a fireworks stand out of the facility and trucking in building supplies, state attorneys argue.

In May, U.S. District Judge Gregory K. Frizzell ruled the 350-member Kialegee Tribal Town lacked the jurisdiction to build a casino on a 20-acre parcel in Broken Arrow and issued an injunction halting construction at the site. Since then, state attorneys claim the owners of the land have disobeyed the ruling by opening the fireworks stand and trucking in loads of gravel.

“Counsel for the state has received no communication from counsel for defendants regarding the fireworks business now operating in the structure on the Broken Arrow property or the purpose of the apparent construction activity ...” the state wrote in a federal court filing this week.

Joe Farris, an attorney for the southeastern Oklahoma tribe, said his clients are not violating the court's order because the landowners have allowed fireworks to be sold on the property for years.

“It's a knock-down fireworks stand, that's all that's happening here,” Farris said Thursday. “It has nothing to do with the development, it's not construction.

“(The casino opponents) are trying to keep the controversy alive on the front pages of the paper,” he said.

But Rob Martinek, a co-founder of Citizens Against Neighborhood Gaming in Broken Arrow, said Thursday the tribe appears to be “thumbing their nose” at the court.

“One of the things the court said is they could not do anything on the land until it got all federal, state and local appropriate permission, and then they could come back to the court and the court would consider it,” Martinek said. “I feel they're not garnering themselves any favor with the court.”

In response to Frizzell's ruling, the tribe filed a request in federal court seeking to modify the injunction to allow developers to build a sports bar and music venue instead.

Backers broke ground on the casino project late last year and had trucked in several pre-fabricated buildings to temporarily house slot machines. The casino was scheduled to open around Labor Day in the conservative community of nearly 100,000. But the project quickly drew strong opposition from thousands of residents, church leaders and local lawmakers.