Florida governor Ron DeSantis designates Muslim rights group as terrorist organisation
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Florida's Mr DeSantis is the second high-profile Republican governor to take action against CAIR.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- Florida Governor DeSantis has labelled CAIR a "foreign terrorist organisation," alleging ties to Hamas, mirroring a similar move by Texas Governor Abbott.
- CAIR denies links to Hamas and, along with its Florida chapter, has denounced DeSantis' order as "unconstitutional and defamatory," planning a lawsuit.
- The order prevents CAIR from accessing state contracts and funding. The US government hasn't designated CAIR as a terrorist organisation.
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MIAMI - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed an executive order designating one of the country’s most prominent Muslim civil rights groups, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), as a “foreign terrorist organisation,” becoming the second high-profile Republican governor to do so in recent weeks.
In November, Texas Governor Greg Abbott took a similar step against CAIR, which has challenged the move in federal court as an unconstitutional effort to punish the organisation simply because of its views.
CAIR was expected to announce a separate lawsuit against Florida later on Dec 9.
The Florida order alleged that CAIR has ties to Hamas, the militant Palestinian group that attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people.
CAIR has denied any ties to Hamas. In a joint statement on Dec 8, CAIR and its Florida chapter called Mr DeSantis’ order “unconstitutional and defamatory”.
As with Mr Abbott’s order, Mr DeSantis’ order also named the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt, as a foreign terrorist organisation.
The US government has not designated CAIR or the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organisations, but President Donald Trump inn November began the process of doing so for certain Muslim Brotherhood chapters, such as those in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan.
The Florida order instructs agencies to take action to prevent CAIR from receiving any state contracts, employment or funding.
CAIR was founded in 1994 and has chapters in nearly two dozen US states. REUTERS
