DeSantis announces Muslim group CAIR, others as terrorist organizations

Romy Ellenbogen and Alexa Coultoff, Tampa Bay Times on Jul 1, 2026

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday announced the designation of several groups as terrorist organizations, using authority under a new law his office drafted.

The legislation lets the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, whose leader is appointed by the governor, label groups as domestic or foreign terrorists, a power typically reserved for the federal government.

The bill took effect Wednesday. At a news conference that same afternoon, DeSantis announced which organizations would fall under the state’s new list based on law enforcement’s recommendation: the Muslim civil rights organization Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR; the Muslim Brotherhood; antifa; the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and “a number of groups that are affiliated with drug cartels.”

“We’ve got to draw a very strong line in the sand here,” DeSantis said. “You can’t believe what is going on in some of these other parts of the country.”

Under the bill, state-designated terrorist groups would be prohibited from getting any public money. College students who support terrorist organizations would be immediately expelled.

Free speech critics have said the bill is a way for DeSantis and state government to silence college protesters who advocate for Palestine. In 2024, protesters at the University of Florida and University of South Florida were arrested amid pro-Palestine demonstrations, largely for misdemeanors like trespassing.

The bill also targets religious Islamic schools that have received state voucher money.

The governor and Cabinet would have to approve any terrorist designation, and the groups named as terrorist organizations have the chance to appeal it. DeSantis said the Cabinet may soon hold an emergency meeting to approve the designations.

It’s likely that CAIR will sue. In December, when DeSantis used an executive order to designate the group as a terrorist organization, the group took the state to court. In March, a federal judge blocked DeSantis’ order.

State law requires that, for Florida to deem an organization a terrorist group, the group must commit either a violent crime or a computer crime intended to “intimidate, injure or coerce a civilian population.”

When DeSantis signed the bill into law in April, the CAIR-Florida executive director called it an “agenda-driven bill.”

“This is not just about CAIR,” Hiba Rahim said in a statement in April. “This expanded and deeply-flawed framework can attack any organization that dares to dissent.”

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