Protecting Florida: Governor Ron DeSantis Designates Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR As Foreign Terror Organizations

By FrumNews.com

Miami, FL — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis followed actions taken by President Donald Trump and fellow governor Greg Abbott of Texas, designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations.

DeSantis directed state agencies to take all lawful measures to prevent unlawful activities by these organizations, including denying privileges or resources to anyone providing material support. This designation is at the state level. It does not carry the legal force of a federal Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) listing—which only the U.S. State Department can issue.

DeSantis grounds his argument based on the actions of the Muslim Brotherhood in relation to the attacks of October 7th: “In the aftermath of the October 7 attack, Muslim Brotherhood chapters in the Middle East joined attacks against Israel with, or otherwise provided material support to, Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Palestinian groups; and organizations affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas have had active fundraising arms in the United States, which have raised funds to support Hamas’s terrorist attacks in the Middle East; and the Palestine Committee, an organization affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and created to support Hamas in the United States, expressly sought to “increase the financial and moral support for Hamas” and oversaw front organizations designed to raise money for Hamas.”

In the order, DeSantis ties CAIR to the Muslim brotherhood, “[which] was founded by persons connected to the Muslim Brotherhood and was created, in the words of persons affiliated with CAIR, as “an official U.S. cover representing the Islamic community” to conceal ties to Islamic extremist groups; and CAIR was designated as an unindicted co-conspirator by the United States Government in the largest terrorism-financing case in American history, and the court found “ample evidence to establish the association” of CAIR with terrorist organizations.”

[I]ndividuals associated with CAIR have been convicted of providing, and conspiring to provide, material support to designated terrorist organizations; and pursuant to section 943.0311, Florida Statutes, the executive director of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement serves as the Chief of Domestic Security and is responsible for coordinating ongoing assessments of the State’s vulnerability to terrorism and its ability to detect and prevent acts of terrorism within or affecting Florida.”

Last month, President Trump designated specific chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and ordered reports on similar designations for CAIR, citing support for Hamas. Texas Governor Abbott made an identical order to DeSantis.

“For decades, the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliated branches promoted antisemitism, spread radical ideology, encouraged violence, and supported groups that target civilians and destabilize governments committed to peace. These networks drive conflict, inflame hatred toward Jews and Israel, and endanger the security interests of the United States and responsible regional partners,” Betsy Berns Korn, Chair, and William C. Daroff, CEO, of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, commended Trump’s actions against the Muslim Brotherhood in a statement last month. “[Trump’s] Executive Order launches a focused review that will identify the chapters that meet the standards for designation. This step equips the United States with stronger tools to cut off financial, operational, and ideological support for extremist movements and to hold accountable the actors that fuel regional violence.”

“The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world,’” Texas Governor Abbott said last month. “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. Today, I designated the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations. These radical extremists are not welcome in our state and are now prohibited from acquiring any real property interest in Texas.”

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If anyone still cares, CAIR said it launched a lawsuit against the orders by Trump, Abbott, and DeSantis and complained in a statement about the actions, even though they can’t deny the facts. They claim that the Florida Governor, “is an Israel First politician who wants to smear and silence Americans, [and] ‘especially’ American Muslims, critical of U.S. support for Israel’s [made up by CAIR and Al-Jazeera] war crimes.”