Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said that Muslims are a “threat to our freedom” on Tuesday as he targeted the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the U.S. with a foreign terrorist organization label in an escalation of a movement of anti-Muslim hate in the state.
Only the U.S. Secretary of State can designate a group as a foreign terrorist organization, a process that requires the authorization of numerous other federal officials, and notification of Congress and the public. It’s unclear if Abbott has the authority to undertake actions to enforce the designation, since states do not have the authority to make such a designation to begin with.
In a radio interview on Tuesday, Abbott said that the designation was made explicitly to target Muslim groups. He touted other actions he’s taken against Muslim constituents, like a law he recently signed to ban construction like a proposed development in North Texas that would include a mosque, housing, a faith school, and other community buildings, called EPIC City.
“The concern is high, especially when you see somebody like [New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran] Mamdani get elected and the cataclysmic problems that’s going to cause,” Abbott said, per The New York Times. “We want to make sure that’s never going to happen.”
It’s unclear if Abbott has the authority to undertake actions to enforce the designation, since states do not have the authority to make such a designation to begin with.
easy method to find out if he can do this:
is anyone going to stop him
will the jackboots follow his orders
that's it, that's how this shit works
14
AnarchoAnarchist [he/him, comrade/them] - 4w
If he defies the courts, they will simply use their army to enforce their ruling
7
Llituro [he/him, they/them] - 4w
for anyone not wanting to read the article, the org in question is CAIR.
8
Llituro [he/him, they/them] - 4w
the absurdity of this makes me think of Baudrillard discussing the need for the failing state to try to establish its reality by any means it can.
As long as the historical threat came at it from the real, power played at deterrence and simulation, disintegrating all the contradictions by dint of producing equivalent signs. Today when the danger comes at it from simulation (that of being dissolved in the play of signs), power plays at the real, plays at crisis, plays at remanufacturing artificial, social, economic, and political stakes. For power, it is a question of life and death.
the more obvious it is that there is no actual nation-state here that is divorced from the capitalist maw beneath, the more violent they're going to get, the more desperate.
thelastaxolotl in politics
Abbott Slaps Muslim Rights Group With “Defamatory and Lawless” Terrorist Label
https://truthout.org/articles/abbott-says-muslims-threat-to-our-freedom-targeting-cair-with-terrorist-label/cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/8455
easy method to find out if he can do this:
that's it, that's how this shit works
If he defies the courts, they will simply use their army to enforce their ruling
for anyone not wanting to read the article, the org in question is CAIR.
the absurdity of this makes me think of Baudrillard discussing the need for the failing state to try to establish its reality by any means it can.
the more obvious it is that there is no actual nation-state here that is divorced from the capitalist maw beneath, the more violent they're going to get, the more desperate.