Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday sued the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights group, and the Muslim Brotherhood, an international Sunni Muslim group, alleging they are working in concert as a “radical terrorist organization that exists to usurp governmental power and establish dominion through Sharia law.”
In the lawsuit, filed in state court in Collin County, Paxton asks a judge to declare that CAIR is a foreign terrorist organization and transnational criminal organization, and prohibit them from operating in the state, including cutting off their fundraising.
This is the latest in a flurry of probes and lawsuits into CAIR and other Muslim groups by Republican elected officials, in Texas and nationally, amid a surge in Islamophobia.
CAIR asserts that they are being targeted for their opposition to Israel over the war in Gaza, and said in a statement that the group would continue to operate in Texas despite these lawsuits and investigations.
“We have also defeated Greg Abbott’s attacks on the Constitution three different times in a row,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We look forward to doing so again.”
The background: CAIR has been a leading voice in defending pro-Palestinian protesters and pushing back on policies that discriminate against people who oppose Israel. This has put them in the crosshairs of pro-Israel Republican elected officials, who have ramped up anti-Muslim rhetoric in the last year, especially on the campaign trail.
In recent months, state and federal authorities launched investigations into the East Plano Islamic Center, a planned development centered around a mosque. The developers say the community is open to anyone, regardless of religion. The Department of Justice closed its investigation without taking action; Paxton filed a securities lawsuit, despite pushback from the Texas State Securities Board.
In November, Abbott declared CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations, and last month called on Paxton to take legal action.
What Texas says: In Paxton’s lawsuit, he reasserts Abbott’s argument that CAIR is a covert operation of the Muslim Brotherhood, a “radical terrorist organization that exists to usurp governmental power and establish dominion through Sharia law.”
Paxton points to CAIR’s support of the 2024 student protests at the University of Texas at Austin over the war in Gaza, equating it to a Hamas program that pays stipends to families of terrorists killed carrying out attacks on Israeli citizens.
The lawsuit asks the judge to affirm Abbott’s declaration that the group is a terrorist organization and transnational criminal organization, and enforce the penalties associated with that designation, including prohibiting the group from owning property, fundraising or recruiting new members.
In a statement, Paxton said that “jihadists who follow sharia law have no business being in Texas.”
“It’s imperative that they are stopped from operating in Texas,” he said. “Radical Islamic terrorists are antithetical to law and order, endanger the people of Texas, and are an existential threat to our values.”
What CAIR says: CAIR denies any wrongdoing. The group says they follow all laws, and exist solely to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
Paxton’s latest lawsuit, they say, is “late, noting that they have already sued in federal court to block Abbott’s proclamation declaring the group to be a terrorist organization. That lawsuit has yet to be decided.
“Just as Mr. Paxton’s attempt to shut down a Latino voting rights group failed last week, his latest attempt to target our civil rights group is also doomed to fail,” a spokesperson said. “The people of Texas elected Mr. Paxton to serve them, not to silence Texans who dared to oppose Israel’s genocide in Gaza.”
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