(WSVN) - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday designated one of the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups in the U.S. a “foreign terrorist organization,” following a similar step by Texas last month.
The directive against the Council on American-Islamic Relations comes in an executive order DeSantis posted on the social media site X. It also gives the same label to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Neither CAIR nor the Muslim Brotherhood is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government.
The order instructs Florida agencies to prevent the two groups and those who have provided them material support from receiving contracts, employment and funds from a state executive or cabinet agency.
In an emailed statement, CAIR and its Florida chapter said the organization plans to sue DeSantis in response to what it called an “unconstitutional” and “defamatory” proclamation.
Founded in 1994, CAIR has 25 chapters around the country.
CAIR last month asked a federal judge to strike down Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s proclamation, saying in a lawsuit that it was “not only contrary to the United States Constitution, but finds no support in any Texas law.”
The Muslim Brotherhood was established in Egypt nearly a century ago and has branches around the world. Its leaders say it renounced violence decades ago and seeks to set up Islamic rule through elections and other peaceful means. Critics, including autocratic governments across the Middle East region, view it as a threat.
In a joint statement, CAIR National and CAIR-Florida said:
“From the moment Ron DeSantis took office as Florida governor, he has prioritized serving the Israeli government over serving the people of Florida. He hosted his very first official cabinet meeting in Israel. He diverted millions in Florida taxpayer dollars to the Israeli government’s bonds. He threatened to shut down every Florida college’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, only to back off when CAIR sued him in federal court. 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. Governor 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. That’s precisely why Governor DeSantis is targeting our civil rights group with this unconstitutional and defamatory proclamation. We look forward to defeating Governor DeSantis’ latest Israel First stunt in a court of law, where facts matter and conspiracy theories have no weight. In the meantime, we encourage all Floridians and all Americans to speak up against this latest attempt to shred the Constitution for the benefit of a foreign government.”
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