Council on American-Islamic Relations Will Sue DeSantis Over ‘Defamatory’ Designation as ‘Terrorist’ Organization

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said Tuesday it will go to court to challenge an executive order issued by Gov. Ron DeSantis that designated the group as a “terrorist” organization.

“As you know, your designation has no basis in law or fact,” the group, commonly known as CAIR, said in a letter to DeSantis. “You do not have the constitutional authority to unilaterally declare any Americans or American institutions foreign terrorist groups, nor is there any basis to level this smear against our organization.”

The letter, signed by Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the organization’s national deputy director, described the executive order as “defamatory” and said, “We look forward to seeing you in a court of law, where facts and the law still matter. CAIR-Florida will in the meantime, God willing, continue serving the people of Florida, pursuing justice for all, and protecting the Constitution’s guarantees of free speech and religious freedom.”

The executive order, issued Monday, designated CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations. During an appearance Tuesday at Florida International University, DeSantis said the Legislature is working on changes that would follow a Texas law about terrorist organizations. He called the Texas law “a little bit more robust” than what is on Florida’s books. “I think you’re going to see statutory codification of how we handle different terror designations,” DeSantis said. “But I welcome the lawsuit, because what will happen is that will give the state of Florida discovery rights to be able to subpoena (CAIR’s) bank records.”

In part, the executive order alleged that people associated with CAIR “have been convicted of providing, and conspiring to provide, material support to designated terrorist organizations.” But in the letter to DeSantis, CAIR said the “claim that CAIR supports terrorism is ludicrous and provably false.” It added that the “real reason anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian politicians obsessively target CAIR and other American Muslim institutions is because of our steadfast advocacy for Palestinian rights.”

–News Service of Florida