TEXAS – Two days after Governor Greg Abbott labeled the Muslim Brother Hood and Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), as a foreign terrorist group, he called for DPS to launch a criminal investigation into the brotherhood.
“The goal is to identify, disrupt, and eradicate terrorist organizations engaged in criminal activities in Texas,” said Abbott. “We will target threats of violence, intimidation, and harassment of our citizens. We will also focus on individuals or groups who unlawfully impose Sharia law, which violates the Texas Constitution and state statutes.”
Recommended Videos
This comes after Abbott named CAIR a terrorist organization on Tuesday, which ultimately stops the brotherhood and their affiliates from purchasing or acquiring land in Texas.
Abbott said he considers the organization a terrorist group based on concerns about alleged support for terrorism and efforts to undermine legal systems.
“The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world,’” said Abbott. ”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.”
This state designation marks the first time Texas has applied these restrictions to either organization. According to the governor’s office, the decision took effect immediately and applied to any real property interests within Texas.
Shortly after Abbott’s Thursday announcement, CAIR announced that they have filed a federal lawsuit against Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton to block Abbott’s proclamation.
In a statement, Attorney Charlie Swift of the Muslim Legal Fund of America said:
“The Muslim Legal Fund of America is proud to defend the constitutional rights of CAIR-Texas and the right of all Texans to engage in free speech and uphold civil rights without facing lawless and defamatory attacks by Greg Abbott. Mr. Abbott’s unconstitutional proclamation undermines the very foundational notions of due process that our system depends upon and it must not stand. For the sake of our nation’s basic freedoms, Greg Abbott’s latest attack on the American people must be defeated.”
In a statement, CAIR Litigation Director and General Counsel Lena Masri said:
“CAIR Legal Defense Fund has successfully sued and defeated Texas Governor Greg Abbott the last three times he tried to violate the First Amendment by punishing critics of the Israeli government. The lawsuit we have filed today is our first step towards defeating Governor Abbott again so that our nation protects free speech and due process for all Americans. No civil rights organizations are safe if a governor can baselessly and unilaterally declare any of them terrorist groups, ban them from buying land, and threaten them with closure. We have beaten Greg Abbott’s attacks on the First Amendment before, and God willing, we will do it again now.”
In a statement, CAIR-Texas said:
“CAIR-Texas and the Texas Muslim community are standing up for our constitutional rights by directly confronting Greg Abbott’s lawless attack on our civil rights. We are not and will not be intimidated by smear campaigns launched by Israel First politicians like Mr. Abbott. Mr. Abbott is defaming us and other American Muslims because we are effective advocates for justice here and abroad. We plan to continue exercising our constitutional rights, defending civil rights, and speaking truth to power, whether in defense of free speech, religious freedom and racial equality here in Texas or in defense of human rights abroad.”
CAIR previously sent a letter to Abbott rebutting his false claims about CAIR and detailing the Muslim civil rights organization’s three-decade record of both defending civil rights and condemning all forms of unjust violence, including terrorism. The letter also cites numerous rulings and independent reports debunking efforts to smear CAIR or link it to any foreign entities.