The Council on American-Islamic Relations has suspended operations in Florida as the state’s designation of the group as a domestic terrorist organization takes effect.
The announcement came on Thursday, a day after Chief U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor of the Northern District of Florida declined to block the designation. Winsor granted CAIR limited relief, however, allowing the organization to continue receiving legal services while its federal lawsuit proceeds.
“We have suspended our operations in Florida because of Gov. DeSantis and other state officials’ baseless and unconstitutional enforcement of the state’s unprecedented new ‘domestic terrorist organization’ laws against us,” CAIR-Florida stated on its website. The site’s homepage now displays the message against a black background.
In a Nov. 4 order, Winsor granted CAIR’s request for an injunction only insofar as it protects the organization, its employees and third parties providing it with legal services from prosecution under the state’s material-support law. The injunction takes effect upon the posting of a $1,000 bond.
Winsor wrote in his ruling that the issue was not whether CAIR is a terrorist organization, but rather that it had not shown sufficient legal grounds to block the designation while its lawsuit proceeds.
“Florida is holding CAIR accountable,” Gov. Ron DeSantis stated.
DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet voted on Sept. 29 to designate CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, while designating more than 90 other organizations as foreign terrorist organizations. State officials accused CAIR of ties to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The state published the designations in the Florida Administrative Register on Oct. 6, after which they took effect 30 days later. Under state law, the designations restrict public funding and government contracts for the organizations and expose those who knowingly provide them with material support to criminal penalties.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the state’s investigative agency, called the court ruling “a significant step forward for Florida in the fight against terrorism.”
“Protecting the Free State of Florida from terrorism is always a top priority,” the department stated.
