Designated terror group still gets to speak at Florida state Capitol

A group Florida has labeled a “terror organization” spoke at the Florida Capitol earlier this week. The Council for Islamic-American Relations, or CAIR, is pushing back against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ claim that it is a terror group.

Terror label

In December, DeSantis put out an executive order designating several Muslim groups as terror organizations, including CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood and more.

“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,” the order reads.

DeSantis gave his direct orders to Florida agencies on X.

“Florida agencies are hereby directed to undertake all lawful measures to prevent unlawful activities by these organizations, including denying privileges or resources to anyone providing material support,” DeSantis wrote.

CAIR was founded in 1994 by two people formerly associated with the Islamic Association for Palestine.

“The Gaza Peace Accords had been signed just prior to the meeting, and they had decided to create an organization that would be able to defend their other organizations if they come under federal investigative scrutiny,” David Collins, senior research fellow at George Washington University’s program on extremism, told Straight Arrow News.

CAIR members believe that DeSantis labeled them as terrorists because of their connection to the Free Palestine movement.

“A lot of those people don’t agree with our advocacy for Palestine,” Omar Saleh, an attorney at CAIR Florida, told Straight Arrow News. “They don’t agree with our advocacy against genocide by the Israeli government.”

Saleh believes this decision was driven more by political motives than by actual concern for the safety of Floridians.

“His base are people like Randy Fine, who build their entire career on making anti-Islamic statements,” he said. “These are his base. I made a joke to somebody, who else are you talking about when you mean his base? I mean people who don’t welcome minorities, certainly not Muslims.”

CAIR has never faced any terrorism charges in the U.S., and the federal government does not consider CAIR a terrorist organization.

“We’re fighting for constitutional rights for all Floridians,” Saleh said. “That’s what CAIR does. It’s a civil rights group, and everyone thinks that we’re trying to pull out some special Muslim card. No, we’re talking about the Constitution, the right to free speech, the right to advocate, associate and have the laws under our Constitution applied equally.”

The group was named as a co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation, or HLF, case. In 2008, HLF was convicted of providing funds for Hamas, but CAIR was never indicted as part of the case.

DeSantis’ office declined a request for comment on this story.

What it means

Being labeled a terror organization at the state level, which also happened in Texas, still comes with significant consequences.

“They would not be able to do certain types of transactions or businesses with the state of Florida,” Collins said.

Saleh said it goes deeper than just business dealings.

“We’ve already seen some people getting harassed and intimidated in public,” he said. “And people looking at public officials making such irresponsible statements, whether it’s in Texas or Florida, you’re seeing an uprising of racists travel the state to start interrupting and intimidating public prayer for Muslims.”

Part of what can happen to these groups that are given these designations is laid out in DeSantis’ order.

“The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol are directed to undertake: all lawful measures to prevent unlawful activities in Florida by the terrorist organizations designated in Section 1,” it reads.

Fighting back

CAIR is pushing back against that designation. Saleh said they’re currently looking for a judge to halt the order while a lawsuit plays out.

“We should have a determination from the court within a few weeks as to not just the legality of the order right away, but as to whether the judge will block it during the pendency of the litigation because of the seriousness of these allegations that result in far-reaching consequences,” he said.

They’ve also called on Florida residents to push back against the designation.

“It’s illegal,” Saleh said. “I think they do realize it, but they’re leaving it up for us to challenge it.”

Oral arguments are set for Feb. 27.

Speaking at the Capitol

Despite being labeled a terror organization, members of CAIR spoke at the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee on Monday, Feb. 2.

Florida’s Attorney General put out a post before the group arrived, calling for “law enforcement to be on heightened alert.”

“I would say that the only security threat caused anywhere is from irresponsible statements like that,” Saleh said.

The group was there to speak with lawmakers about pending legislation during the Capitol’s annual “Muslim Day.” Among the concerns is HB1471, which would alter how groups are labeled as foreign terrorist organizations.

Saleh said Monday is an example of DeSantis’ designation as going too far.

“For him to do that is an overreach,” he said. “And I think that’s kind of what showed on Monday, that nobody was a threat.”

There were no incidents reported.

“Every single year when we’ve shown up at Tallahassee, just like on Monday, it was an extremely successful event,” Saleh said.

It’s also quite a different experience than having a group designated as a terror organization by the federal government, like Al Qaeda or Al-Shabaab, coming to speak at a state capitol building.

“Al-Qaeda is a foreign designated terrorist organization by the U.S. federal government, where they have not made that designation to CAIR,” Collins said. “So, there is a distinct difference between these two entities.”

Muslim Brotherhood

Much of DeSantis’ executive order focused on the Muslim Brotherhood, which President Donald Trump has allowed the U.S. to label certain chapters as terrorists.

The Brotherhood has also never faced official terrorism charges in the U.S.

The founders of CAIR do have some links to the Muslim Brotherhood, but what is the Florida chapter’s relationship?

“None,” Saleh said. “The same relationship with terrorism.”

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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief