CAIR, CAIR-Texas Dismiss Ken Paxton’s Latest Frivolous ‘Anti-Muslim Publicity Stunt’
'Texas Attorney General's politically motivated publicity stunt wastes more taxpayer dollars.'
The national headquarters and Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, has dismissed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s latest attempt to target CAIR and the Texas Muslim community as “another frivolous, politically motivated anti-Muslim publicity stunt.”
CAIR-Texas also noted that the civil rights organization has already filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block any enforcement of the unconstitutional proclamation signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott last fall.
In a statement, CAIR and CAIR-Texas said:
“Ken Paxton’s lawsuit is another frivolous, politically motivated anti-Muslim publicity stunt that wastes more taxpayer dollars. CAIR has already filed a federal lawsuit to block enforcement of Governor Abbott’s unconstitutional proclamation. We have also defeated Mr. Abbott’s attacks on Texas Muslims and the Constitution three different times in a row. We look forward to doing so again, God willing.
“Just as Mr. Paxton’s attempt to shut down a Latino voting rights group failed last week, his latest attempt to silence a minority group also appears doomed to fail. The people of Texas elected Mr. Paxton to serve them, not to silence them for daring to oppose Israel’s genocide in Gaza. CAIR-Texas plans to continue serving and protecting the people of Texas long after Ken Paxton leaves office.”
In his announcement of his lawsuit on X, Paxton repeated debunked anti-Muslim conspiracy theories about American Muslims, “sharia law” and “jihadists,” providing further proof of the anti-Muslim bigotry that has motivated his illegal actions.
Last week, CAIR-Texas congratulated Jolt Initiative, a Texas Latino voter rights organization, for its victory against Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawless attack on the group. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman issued a preliminary injunction halting Attorney General Paxton’s attempt to dissolve the corporate charter of Jolt Initiative.
In his decision, Judge Pitman found that the Attorney General brought the action against Jolt Initiative in bad faith and had failed to establish any credible evidence of wrongdoing by the organization.
Last fall, the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA), the CAIR Legal Defense Fund (CAIR LDF) and Akeel & Valentine, PLC announced the filing of a federal lawsuit against Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton to block enforcement of Abbott’s similar “unconstitutional and defamatory” Nov. 18th proclamation, which decreed CAIR a “foreign terrorist organization” and threatened various civil penalties against the civil rights organization if it continues to serve the people of Texas.
Instead of defending the merits of Governor Abbott’s Nov. 18th proclamation, Attorney General Paxton has argued that the proclamation does not apply to CAIR’s Texas chapters and that they therefore cannot sue to block its enforcement, that the Attorney General is immune from being sued because he has not yet taken any action against CAIR, and that the court should not rule on the order’s constitutionality at all because, he claims, it raises a “political question” that courts cannot resolve.
CAIR previously sent a letter to Abbott rebutting his false claims about CAIR and detailing the Muslim civil rights organization’s three-decade record of both defending civil rights and condemning all forms of unjust violence, including terrorism. The letter also cites numerous rulings and independent reports debunking efforts to smear CAIR or link it to any foreign entities.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
Last week, the State of Texas announced it has filed a civil lawsuit seeking to permanently shut down operations linked to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Brotherhood, escalating recent actions taken by state leaders against the organisations.
Filed February 5 in Collin County district court, the lawsuit asks a judge to issue temporary and permanent injunctions prohibiting the Muslim Brotherhood and multiple CAIR-affiliated entities from operating anywhere in Texas. The State alleges the groups function as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations under Texas law.
CAIR has previously denied wrongdoing and described Abbott’s designation as defamatory. No court hearing date has been announced.