DeSantis, Florida declares Islamic civil rights group a terrorist organization

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday designated one of the largest Muslim civil rights groups in the United States as a “foreign terrorist organization,” following a similar move by the state of Texas last month.

The directive against the Council on American-Islamic Relations comes in an executive order posted by DeSantis on the social media site X. It also gives the same label to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Neither the Council on American-Islamic Relations nor the Muslim Brotherhood have been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the US government.

The order orders Florida agencies to prevent the two groups and those who provided them with material support from receiving contracts, employment and funds from a state law enforcement or government agency.

In an email statement, CAIR and its Florida chapter said the organization plans to sue DeSantis in response to what it called an “unconstitutional” and “defamatory” ad.

Founded in 1994, CAIR has 25 chapters across the country.

CAIR last month asked a federal judge to overturn Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s proclamation, saying in a lawsuit that it “is not only inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States, but finds no support in any Texas law.”

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt nearly a century ago, and has branches around the world. Its leaders say it has renounced violence for decades and seeks to establish Islamic rule through elections and other peaceful means. Critics, including authoritarian governments across the Middle East, view it as a threat.