Republican who called Muslims 'savages' seeks terrorist designation for advocacy group

A Republican state lawmaker who had faced criticism for calling Muslims “savages” and making a series of other Islamophobic comments pushed forward his legislation urging Congress to designate the country’s largest Muslim advocacy group a terrorist organization.

The measure from Rep. John Gillette, R-Kingman, will have no practical effect. But if it passes, it would be a statement of the legislature’s beliefs. House Concurrent Memorial 2002 urges the president and Congress to designate the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, as a terrorist organization and pass a bill in Congress that seeks to do the same.

Wednesday afternoon’s hearing on the bill before the House Committee on Federalism, Military Affairs and Elections was packed, with many members of the public sitting outside of the hearing room having to listen to the proceedings from the hall and an overflow room. Many members of the Muslim community were also in attendance to voice their opposition to the proposal.

Last year, Gillette faced sharp criticism from his Democratic colleagues for a series of posts on X aimed at the Muslim faith. Many were laced with profanity, and the Kingman Republican has insisted that Muslim immigrants are “savages” because they are pushing “Sharia law” onto Americans.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Gillette insisted that Phoenix is home to “Sharia courts” where Muslims are engaged in a “secondary form of government.” There are no such courts, and the U.S. Constitution prevents the establishment of such religious courts. Some Muslim communities may have informal bodies to conduct arbitration or mediation based on religious rules, but they are voluntary for members and are not legally binding.

Gillette previously tried to link CAIR with terrorism in an attempt to attack Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who met with the executive director of the organization’s Arizona chapter in January 2023.

In 2014, the United Arab Emirates designated CAIR a terrorist organization, claiming it had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The United States government itself has never designated CAIR as a terrorist organization, but has instead sought additional information as to why CAIR and other organizations’ were placed on the list.

Gillette has previously acknowledged that the United States had not designated CAIR as a terrorist organization, but insisted that CAIR worked with other known terrorist organizations; the Mirror found no evidence to substantiate Gillette’s claim.

But Gillette and speakers in support of his bill pointed to a 2008 court case as proof.

The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development was the largest Muslim charitable organization in 2001 when it was designated a terrorist organization after being accused of providing material support to Hamas.

The HLF trial in 2008 alleged that the organization sent money to Hamas through various organizations. Eventually, five men were convicted for “funnelling $12 million to Hamas” after a trial that critics have argued used “secret evidence” and was “constitutionally questionable.”

An allegation that arose out of the trial was that CAIR was an “unnamed co-conspirator,” which anti-Muslim groups, including Act for America, have seized upon in recent years.

Gillette played a video by the organization during the introduction of another one of his House Concurrent Memorial 2001, which seeks to declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization.

Language in that measure also claims that CAIR “is widely considered a front group for the Muslim Brotherhood.”

“Branding a civil rights organization as terrorism is clearly viewpoint discrimination,” said Martin Quezada, a former Democratic lawmaker who now is a staff attorney for CAIR-AZ. He added that the legislation aims to create “guilt by association” and called the claims “ludicrous on their face.”

“There is a reason why CAIR has not been designated a terror organization by any organization with the legal authorization to do so,” he said.

Quezada also pointed out to the committee that, even if the bill by Gillette says it is solely focused on the national branch of CAIR, it harms state affiliates — and has led to lawsuits in other states that have made declarations similar to what Gillette wants in Arizona.

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott released a proclamation deeming CAIR a “foreign terrorist organization,” and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has claimed in response to CAIR’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of that proclamation that it does not apply to the Texas chapters. Similar litigation was also filed in Florida when that state declared CAIR a terrorist organization.

Members of the Muslim community also voiced their concern on how the bill furthers islamaphobia and creates a fear of the Muslim community at large.

“It seems that islamaphobia is all the rage,” said Thomas Isaak, a representative with the Islamic Community Center in Tempe, which has been the subject to a litany of hate crimes in the past.

Gillette asked Isaak about comments made by CAIR’s executive director in the wake of the deadly 2023 attacks in Israel, seemingly trying to connect the organization to Hamas.

“They exercised their free speech and you did not like it?” Isaak said. Gillette banged his gavel to silence Isaak and declared that his question was out of bounds because it impugned the motives of the committee’s members.

While multiple speakers spoke about how the bill would only further the divide between non-Muslim Americans and Muslim Americans, creating fear and nebulous terrorism connections where none exist, other speakers tried to claim that Islamophobia does not exist at all.

Christopher Holton, a senior analyst and director of state outreach for the Center for Security Policy, claimed the term Islamophobia was created by the Muslim Brotherhood to smear its critics.

The Center for Security Policy has a long history though of anti-Muslim beliefs and has previously falsely called President Barrack Obama a Muslim. The group also claimed that conservative activist Grover Norquist had connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, among other spurious claims.

“This is the new crusade. You may not be at war with Islam, but Islam is at war with you,” Donine Henshaw told the committee, claiming Muslims are taking over with “mass migration” and urging the committee to ban calls to prayer, minarets and Muslim symbols. “We must stop them to secure our children’s future.”

Henshaw’s comments angered Rep. Alexander Kolodin, R-Scottsdale.

“I do find that kind of advocacy repugnant to the spirit of the First Amendment,” Kolodin said of her request to ban minarets and other religious practices. “Please be familiar with the country you are trying to protect and its constitution.”

Both bills passed along party lines, though Kolodin voiced concerns about HCM2002 and said he felt that some of the requests being made fall more under the purview of a court of law.

“Both sides of the argument here made me uncomfortable,” Kolodin said, adding that Quezada saying that CAIR has no “formal” relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood gave him pause. He also questioned if the Holy Land case was strong enough to prove CAIR guilty by association. “For today, I will be an aye.”

Both bills will head to the full House of Representatives for consideration next.