Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday that CAIR Florida, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Antifa have been designated as terrorist orga...
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday that CAIR Florida, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Antifa have been designated as terrorist organizations under a new state law that took effect just hours earlier.
The move comes months after a U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, an Obama nominee, blocked DeSantis’ previous executive order applying the same designation to CAIR Florida and the Muslim Brotherhood.
In his ruling at the time, Walker said that DeSantis did not have the power “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.”
DeSantis said the new law provides Florida with the legal authority needed to enforce the designations.
“We did need to have more of a legal structure to be able to add teeth to these designations,” DeSantis said.
The designations were recommended by FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass and now await approval by the governor and Cabinet, which must vote within seven days under the new law.
DeSantis said he expects to call an emergency meeting and does not anticipate any opposition.
He also announced recommendations to designate more than 90 foreign organizations as terrorist groups, including Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Cartel del Noreste, and Cartel del Golfo.
He defended the law against criticism that it grants too much power to state officials..
“These are common-sense tools,” DeSantis said. “It’s not saying, ‘Oh, some random civic group.’ It’s based on conduct.”
Desantis also cited CAIR’s designation as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2007 Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case, in which federal prosecutors alleged the organization was part of a Hamas support network.
If approved by the Cabinet, the designations would prohibit taxpayer funding and other public support for the organizations.
Meanwhile, individuals who knowingly provide material support could face severe criminal penalties.
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