Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announced Wednesday that the state will use a new anti-terrorism law to designate foreign and domestic terrorist organizations.The governor said Florida will designate the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Muslim Brotherhood, and antifa under state law, while also flagging more than 90 federally designated foreign terrorist organizations, including the Sinaloa cartel, Tren de Aragua, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.“Today, we are officially designating terrorist organizations under Florida law,” DeSantis said. “In addition to CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, we are adding Antifa to the list — along with more than 90 Foreign Terrorist Organizations, including cartels.”
CAIR, the largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization in the United States, has not committed any direct terrorist attacks nor is it classified as a foreign terrorist organization by the federal government. However, the organization has been the subject of political scrutiny due to evidence of connections to Hamas and other Islamic terrorist organizations.Earlier this year, DeSantis signed a state law establishing a permanent framework for identifying and combating terrorist organizations. The law authorizes the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to recommend organizations for designation, with final approval requiring a majority vote of the governor and Cabinet.“Keeping our community safe starts with identifying the threat,” Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass said. “The safety of our community is strengthened by that knowledge every day, and reinforced by the collaboration between our officers, our federal partners, and — most importantly — the people we serve.”The legislation bars taxpayer-funded institutions from supporting designated terrorist organizations, creates new state crimes for providing material support to them, and authorizes the administrative dissolution of certain corporations designated as terrorist organizations. It also makes it a crime under certain circumstances to receive military training from, knowingly provide material support to, or serve under the direction of a designated domestic terrorist organization.The announcement builds on a December executive order in which DeSantis directed state agencies to eliminate the influence of what he called “radical terrorist ideologies” in Florida. That order instructed agencies to deny taxpayer funding, contracts, employment, and other public support to the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR, where authorized by law, and directed state and local officials to use all lawful means to prevent terrorist organizations from operating in the state.The bill also limits foreign influence in public institutions, including restricting partnerships between public colleges and institutions tied to foreign countries of concern and limiting the use of taxpayer funds for programs benefiting foreign adversaries.The state’s efforts have already drawn legal challenges. Earlier this year, CAIR filed a lawsuit arguing DeSantis’s December executive order exceeded his constitutional authority, calling it “an ultra vires act of authority” that violated both the U.S. and Florida constitutions.In March, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction blocking DeSantis’s executive order.“The question before this Court is whether the Governor can, in a non-emergency situation, unilaterally designate one of the largest Muslim civil rights groups in America as a ‘terrorist organization’ and withhold government benefits from anyone providing material support or resources to the group,” U.S. District Judge Mark Walker wrote in his order. “This Court finds he cannot.”TRUMP SAYS COMMUNISM IS THE BIGGEST THREAT FACING AMERICA ON EVE OF 250TH BIRTHDAYThe announcement comes after Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) announced a similar move in Texas, designating the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations, a move that authorizes heightened enforcement and prohibits the groups and their affiliates from purchasing land in the state.“The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world,’” Abbott said. “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. These radical extremists are not welcome in our state and are now prohibited from acquiring any real property interest in Texas.”
