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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, announced Wednesday the state's intention to use a new state law to designate dozens of groups as terrorist organizations, a move that would still require approval from the Florida Cabinet, prompting legal objections from at least one of the groups.
HB 1471 was signed into law earlier this year and took effect Wednesday.
The governor said the state plans to implement its new statutory authority to “identify, designate and combat terrorist organizations operating in Florida” in the first use of powers established under the legislation.
Florida officials plan to designate more than 90 groups as terrorist organizations, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Muslim Brotherhood and Antifa, although the proposed designations must be approved by the governor and Cabinet before they are finalized under statute.
FLORIDA CAIR THREATENTS LAWSUIT AGAINST DESANTIS AFTER LABELING THE GROUP AS A 'FOREIGN TERRORIST' ORGANIZATION
The governor said the state plans to implement its new legal authority to “identify, designate and combat terrorist organizations operating in Florida.” (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“Last December, I signed an Executive Order to eliminate the influence of radical terrorist ideologies and the organizations that promote them in Florida. This year, I signed legislation to strengthen those protections and give Florida permanent legal tools to combat terrorism while defending the constitutional rights of our citizens,” DeSantis said in a statement. “Today we officially designate terrorist organizations under Florida law. In addition to CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, we added Antifa to the list, along with more than 90 foreign terrorist organizations, including cartels.”
However, under HB 1471, the Chief of Homeland Security can designate organizations qualified as domestic or foreign terrorist organizations, but the governor and Cabinet can approve or reject those designations by majority vote before they are published in the Florida Administrative Register.
Some of the foreign organizations added to the list include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and gangs such as the Sinaloa Cartel, the Aragua Train, the Northeast Cartel and the Gulf Cartel.
The new law allows the governor and Cabinet to approve or reject appointments initially made by the head of homeland security within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
“Keeping our community safe starts with identifying the threat,” said Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass. “The safety of our community is strengthened every day with that knowledge and with the collaboration between our officers, our federal partners and, most importantly, the people we serve.”
HB 1471 was signed into law earlier this year and took effect Wednesday. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
HB 1471 directs agencies to deny groups public support and taxpayer funding. The law also establishes state law enforcement mechanisms and criminal penalties for providing material support to designated terrorist organizations.
More specifically, the law restricts certain public benefits, funding, and institutional support related to designated groups, and creates criminal penalties for providing, attempting to provide, or conspiring to provide material support or resources to a designated domestic terrorist organization.
The law also ensures that foreign or religious legal codes cannot override the United States or Florida Constitutions in state courts.
CAIR, a Muslim civil rights group, condemned the move and said it would continue to challenge the state's actions, following the governor's announcement Wednesday, saying the organization does not engage in “terrorist activities” and has not been charged or convicted of any crime. CAIR and CAIR-Florida have also previously sued over DeSantis' December executive order targeting CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood.
“Throughout CAIR's long history, our civil rights organization has worked to protect constitutional guarantees of free speech, religious freedom, and equality before the law,” the group said in a statement. “We have also sought justice for all people, including American Muslims affected by hate. This is exactly why Governor DeSantis has repeatedly attacked our organization. We see through Governor DeSantis' latest biased attempt to punish us for our opinions and our values. We look forward to fighting these baseless attacks in the courts and proving once again that the Constitution is stronger than any politician's bigotry.”
FLORIDA DESIGNATES MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AND CAIR AS FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS, DESANTIS SAYS
Florida officials plan to designate more than 90 groups as terrorist organizations, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Brotherhood and Antifa. (Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg)
Critics, including CAIR and civil liberties groups, argue that the designations are politically motivated and threaten speech and association protected by the First Amendment. DeSantis and state officials have argued that the law is intended to prevent taxpayers from supporting groups they say promote or support terrorism.
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CAIR and civil liberties groups said they would challenge the designation as baseless and unconstitutional.
“Florida's impending designation of our clients is appalling and far from reality. CAIR and CAIR-Florida's speech and advocacy are protected by the First Amendment, which includes their right to criticize the governor, other officials, and their policies. We are asking the court to protect our clients' cardinal freedoms,” Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU's National Security Project, said in a statement.
The designations, if approved by the Cabinet, would operate under Florida law and would not be the same as a federal foreign terrorist organization designation, which is made by the U.S. Department of State.
