Abbott designates Muslim Brotherhood a 'foreign terrorist organization' in Texas

Greg Abbott signed an executive order designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations in Texas. According to the Republican governor, these groups seek to "subvert our laws through violence and intimidation."

Specifically, his state executive order prohibits these groups from acquiring property in the state, and authorizes the state attorney general to take legal action against entities he deems affiliated with these organizations.

"The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world," Governor Abbott said in a statement released by his office.

"The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable. Today, I designated the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations. These radical extremists are not welcome in our state and are now prohibited from acquiring any real property interest in Texas," he added.

Although the State Department does not currently include CAIR or the Muslim Brotherhood within its list of terrorist groups, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced a bill in June to so designate the Muslim Brotherhood. It did so after the attack in Boulder, Colorado staged by Mohamed Soliman, who publicly supported the group on his social media accounts.