Governor Ron DeSantis has been tough on crime, supported law enforcement, and designated several gangs and transnational terrorist organizations. Photo courtesy of the Executive Office of Governor Ron DeSantis.Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the state’s intent to implement its new statutory authority to identify, designate, and combat terrorist organizations operating in Florida, marking the first use of powers established by HB 1471. DeSantis signed the bill into law during a ceremony on the University of South Florida campus in Tampa on April 6, 2026, and the law took effect Wednesday, July 1.Under HB 1471, Florida’s chief of domestic security within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement may designate qualifying organizations as domestic or foreign terrorist organizations. The governor and Cabinet then approve or reject each designation by majority vote before publication in the Florida Administrative Register.“Today, we are officially designating terrorist organizations under Florida law. In addition to CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, we are adding Antifa to the list, along with more than 90 Foreign Terrorist Organizations, including cartels,” DeSantis said in a statement. Among the named foreign designations are the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and cartels, including Cartel de Sinaloa, Tren de Aragua, Cartel del Noreste, and Cartel del Golfo.CAIR was designated over its listing as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the 2007 Holy Land Foundation case, alongside 245 other individuals and entities accused of aiding Hamas, though none were criminally charged. DeSantis also cited CAIR’s alleged ties to the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee, a group designated a foreign terrorist organization since 1997, or its offshoots.The Muslim Brotherhood’s inclusion follows a 2025 White House designation of certain Muslim Brotherhood chapters as foreign terrorist organizations, a step DeSantis’s order sought to extend at the state level. Antifa’s designation similarly tracks a 2025 White House move naming it a domestic terrorist group.DeSantis has described the movement as “militant leftists” whose “actions and what they’re involved with is very destructive,” while FDLE’s underlying legal criteria require a finding that a group engages in terrorist activity as defined under Florida law, is based in Florida, and poses an ongoing threat to state or national security.The three foreign designations rest on preexisting federal action rather than new state findings. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Tren de Aragua, and the named cartels, Sinaloa, del Noreste, and del Golfo, are among the more than 90 groups DeSantis identified that were already designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government. HB 1471 therefore incorporates the federal designations into state law rather than establishing an independent basis for designation.DeSantis characterized the IRGC as “a revolutionary military Islamic organization” that is also “the leading formenter of terrorism worldwide.” He applied similar reasoning to Tren de Aragua’s cartel violence.The July designation traces back to a December 8, 2025 executive order in which DeSantis directed Florida’s executive and Cabinet agencies, and every county and city, to deny local or state contracts, employment, funding, benefits, or privileges to CAIR and anyone providing it “material support,” including “expert advice or assistance.”That order labeled both the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations. CAIR filed suit eight days later, joined by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Florida, Akeel & Valentine, PLC, and Bondurant Mixson & Ellmore LLP, arguing the order was unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination, issued in retaliation for protected speech, and designed to coerce third parties into cutting ties with the group.In early March 2026, U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the order. Walker wrote that the First Amendment bars the governor from using an executive office to make a political statement at the expense of others’ constitutional rights, framing the question before the court as whether DeSantis could, “in a non-emergency situation, unilaterally designate one of the largest Muslim civil rights groups in America as a ‘terrorist organization’ and withhold government benefits from anyone providing material support or resources to the group.”Walker found that CAIR’s standing rested not on direct censorship of its speech but on the order’s “coercion of third parties to cut ties with Plaintiff.” He cited a Florida production company that withdrew from a podcast agreement with CAIR. He also cited the South Florida Muslim Federation’s public disassociation of CAIR-Florida from a Coral Springs conference. That decision followed social media statements from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier warning that state and local resources could not be used by any CAIR-affiliated organization.No discovery was conducted, and no hearings were held. The judge ruled on the preliminary injunction motion alone and found that CAIR had shown a substantial likelihood of succeeding on the merits.CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad called the ruling a reminder that “the Constitution still matters.” Southern Poverty Law Center Deputy Legal Director Scott McCoy called it “a decisive victory for the Constitution and for the principle that no governor can place themselves above the law.”DeSantis predicted the order would face legal challenges but said he was confident the state would prevail. The Florida Legislature later converted the executive action into HB 1471, creating a permanent statutory framework with a formal designation process and Cabinet confirmation.The pattern is not confined to Florida. DeSantis’s December order came three weeks after a Texas proclamation by Gov. Greg Abbott prohibiting CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood, and their members from purchasing or acquiring land in the state based on similar allegations of support for terrorism. The two cases have since diverged. A federal judge sided with CAIR in Florida, while in Texas, where discovery has proceeded, a federal judge ruled in Abbott’s favor in May.The post Florida Gov. DeSantis Designates Terrorist Groups After Judge Pushes Back appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.