Following Texas’ lead, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim Brotherhood as “foreign terrorist organizations.”
“Florida agencies are hereby directed to undertake all lawful measures to prevent unlawful activities by these organizations, including denying privileges or resources to anyone providing material support,” DeSantis said.
His Dec. 8 executive order accuses the organizations of involvement in acts of violence and intimidation, including support of Hamas in its military campaign against Israel.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers questions during a press conference at Christopher Columbus High School on Monday, March 27, 2023, in Miami. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via AP)
Without citing evidence, the directive connects Hamas’ 2023 attack against Israel with the Muslim Brotherhood, an Egypt-based organization that has renounced violence in its quest for Islamic rule. It also claims CAIR was founded by members of the Brotherhood.
The organizations’ values are “irreconcilable with foundational American principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and conflict with “the right to religious freedom and the equal protection of the law,” according to the executive order.
DeSantis also references an executive order President Donald Trump issued Nov. 24 calling for “a process by which certain chapters or other subdivisions of the Muslim Brotherhood shall be considered for designation as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.”
The Florida development came less than a month after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared members of CAIR and the Brotherhood as “radical extremists” operating “foreign terrorist” and “transnational criminal” organizations now prohibited from owning property in the state.
Abbott’s proclamation said the groups are bent on imposing Sharia law around the world and represent Hamas’ attempt to “regenerate itself” in the U.S.
“The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation and harassment are unacceptable,” he said.
CAIR, the largest Muslim civil rights advocacy organization in the U.S., said its national and Florida groups plan to sue DeSantis for his “‘defamatory and unconstitutional’ order baselessly smearing the group as a foreign terrorist organization.”
CAIR-Florida said the governor has been an open supporter of Israel since taking office in 2019 and just as open about his opposition to Palestinian rights.
“Like Greg Abbott in Texas, Ron DeSantis is an Israel First politician who wants to smear and silence Americans, especially American Muslims, critical of U.S. support for Israel’s war crimes. Gov. DeSantis knows full well that CAIR-Florida is an American civil rights organization that has spent decades advancing free speech, religious freedom and justice for all, including for the Palestinian people.”
Edward Ahmed Mitchell
Edward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy director for CAIR, said the organization is known by many in law enforcement for being anti-terrorism.
“During President Trump’s first term, it was a CAIR office that repeatedly warned the FBI about the threat a troubled individual posed to the president and other Americans. After the FBI later arrested the suspect for plotting an attack on the White House, the FBI privately thanked CAIR for saving lives,” Mitchell said in a Dec. 9 letter to the governor.
“The truth is that CAIR is an American organization funded by the American people. CAIR has never been an agent, affiliate, offshoot, subsidiary, partner, funder or representative of any foreign group. In any given year, less than 1% of donations to CAIR come from individuals based abroad, mostly in Canada.”
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