Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday sued to stop the Council on American-Islamic Relations and its Texas chapters from operating in the state — despite arguing in another case the local chapters were not included in a terrorist declaration issued by Gov. Greg Abbott.
The lawsuit — which also lists the Muslim Brotherhood as a defendant despite the group having no formal organization in Texas — seeks to formally name CAIR and its Texas affiliates foreign terrorist organizations and prohibit them from engaging in any activity in the state including raising money and recruiting members.
“I am in full support of Governor Abbott’s lawful declaration that CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood are foreign terrorist organizations, and it’s imperative that they are stopped from operating in Texas,” Paxton said in a press release. “Radical Islamic terrorists are antithetical to law and order, endanger the people of Texas, and are an existential threat to our values.”
CAIR is a nonprofit Muslim civil rights group, which Abbott argues is a successor organization of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group founded in the 1980s.
CAIR and CAIR-Texas said in a group statement Thursday they look forward to fighting the case.
“Ken Paxton’s lawsuit is another frivolous, politically motivated anti-Muslim publicity stunt that wastes more taxpayer dollars,” the groups said. “CAIR has already filed a federal lawsuit to block enforcement of Governor Abbott’s unconstitutional proclamation.”
After Abbott’s terrorist declaration in November, Texas chapters of CAIR sued Abbott and Paxton to block the designation. Paxton’s original response stated that the local chapters were a separate legal entity and not named in Abbott’s declaration, so the groups had no standing to sue.
But Paxton has since filed an amended response on Jan. 16, now arguing CAIR’s claims are “inconsistent with the Proclamation.”
His response no longer explicitly claims CAIR chapters aren’t a part of the proclamation, but still argues the case should be dismissed.
The suit comes after Abbott demanded in a letter last week Paxton use his office’s power to strip CAIR’s ability to operate in Texas.
“You have used these tools before,” Abbott wrote. “I urge you to use them to combat CAIR.”
It’s also the latest example of rhetoric and policies targeting Muslims from Abbott and Paxton, who have accused mediation groups, a Muslim-focused community development and groups like CAIR of trying to enforce Sharia — a set of Islamic religious laws — in Texas.
CAIR called the claims “anti-Muslim conspiracy theories about American Muslims.”
Dylan Duke is KERA’s Breaking News Reporter. Got a tip? Email Dylan Duke at dduke@kera.org.
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Great Job Dylan Duke | KERA & the Team @ Texas Public Radio for sharing this story.
