Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a navy suit and red tie speaking at a podium outdoors, gesturing with one hand.
CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP via Getty Images
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Desantis Just Added Antifa to a Florida Terrorist List Alongside CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Mexican Cartels

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The list isn’t final yet. DeSantis still needs the Florida Cabinet to sign off before any of the more than 90 groups are officially branded terrorist organizations under state law.

HB 1471 took effect Wednesday, and Florida moved to use it the same day. The law lets the state’s chief of domestic security flag groups as domestic or foreign terrorist organizations, with the governor and Cabinet voting to approve or reject each one before it’s published.

Ron DeSantis in a navy suit and red tie gesturing at a podium microphone during an outdoor press conference.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at a press conference at the South Florida Detention Facility known as ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ in Ochopee, Florida, on June 25, 2026. Photo by Chandan Khanna / AFP via Getty Images.

CAIR, a Muslim civil rights group, says it will fight the designation in court, arguing it has never been charged with or convicted of a crime and that its advocacy is protected by the First Amendment. The ACLU is representing CAIR and CAIR-Florida, calling the move “dire and unmoored from reality.”

Masked protester holding a lit flare aloft amid smoke and flags at an Antifa demonstration in Paris.
A masked demonstrator raises a flare above the crowd during an Antifa protest in Paris on June 6, 2026, held in memory of Clément Méric, who was killed by neo-Nazis on June 5, 2013. Photo by Alexandre Rault / AFP via Getty Images.

The state’s list also names the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Mexican cartels including Cartel de Sinaloa and Tren de Aragua. A Florida designation carries state penalties, including criminal charges for knowingly providing material support to a listed group, but it’s separate from a federal terrorist designation, which only the U.S. State Department can issue.

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a navy suit and red tie speaking at a podium outdoors, gesturing with one hand.
CHANDAN KHANNA AFP via Getty Images
Ron DeSantis in a navy suit and red tie gesturing at a podium microphone during an outdoor press conference.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at a press conference at the South Florida Detention Facility known as 'Alligator Alcatraz' in Ochopee, Florida, on June 25, 2026. Photo by Chandan Khanna AFP via Getty Images.
Masked protester holding a lit flare aloft amid smoke and flags at an Antifa demonstration in Paris.
A masked demonstrator raises a flare above the crowd during an Antifa protest in Paris on June 6, 2026, held in memory of Clément Méric, who was killed by neo-Nazis on June 5, 2013. Photo by Alexandre Rault AFP via Getty Images.