Islamic group sues DeSantis for declaring it a terrorist organization

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(The Center Square) – A pro-Palestinian Islamic group has filed a federal lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, asking a judge to block his executive order designating the group as terrorists.

Earlier this month, DeSantis officially labeled the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations a terrorist organization and called for a statewide blacklisting. He directed state agencies to deny resources to the group and to anyone known to have provided support or resources to them.

DeSantis also directed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Florida Highway Patrol to keep tabs on CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, a decentralized transnational Islamist organization that the governor also designated as terrorists.

With his order, the governor was following the lead of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who issued a proclamation in November accusing CAIR of ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood and blocking it from buying or acquiring land in Texas. Abbott is also being sued by the group.

The Center Square reported Monday that apparently no other Republican governors will be joining the fray. The newswire checked with every other Republican governor whose state has CAIR chapters or satellite offices – Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, and outgoing Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

None of them responded.

As its leaders promised, on Monday both CAIR and its Florida chapter sued Gov. DeSantis in the U.S. District Court’s Northern District of Florida, accusing him of violating their First Amendment rights and overstepping his authority.

"This executive order does not present facts. It does not cite investigations," CAIR-Florida’s interim executive director, Hiba Rahim, said during a news conference Tuesday in Tampa. "It does not point to any criminal findings. It simply declares guilt by proclamation."

The lawsuit says DeSantis doesn’t have power to designate groups as terrorists – that authority lies with the U.S. Secretary of State. It also cites CAIR’s prior litigation against DeSantis when his administration tried to deactivate chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida in 2023.

Now, as punishment, DeSantis wants to squelch the group’s free speech rights and its ability to advocate for Muslim rights, CAIR contends.

"CAIR's role in defending pro-Palestinian speech and opposing state efforts to suppress such expression placed the organization in direct and public opposition to positions advanced by Defendant DeSantis and other Florida officials," the lawsuit says.

Asked for comment, DeSantis’ office pointed The Center Square to some of the governor’s recent X posts about CAIR, where he has said he welcomes litigation and the chance to delve into the organization’s finances.

"Can’t wait for CAIR to open the books," he posted on Dec. 8.

Both the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Muslim Legal Fund of America have joined on to the Florida lawsuit. It asks a federal judge to void DeSantis' order and award reasonable attorneys' fees, but not money damages.

"I’m wondering what he’s thinking he’s going to find," CAIR-Florida attorney Omar Saleh said of DeSantis at the Tampa news conference. "We’ve been doing this for twenty, thirty years. I think you would have found something already."