"Texas governor declares Muslim civil rights group a terrorist organization"

"Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday declared one of the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups in the U.S. a 'foreign terrorist organization' under a proclamation that he said allows the state to try shutting them down.

He also designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations 'a transnational criminal organization' and said it would not be allowed to buy land in the state. The proclamation also included the Muslim Brotherhood.

Neither the CAIR nor the Muslim Brotherhood are designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government.

CAIR told Abbott in a letter that his announcement had no basis “in law or fact.” The group accused his office of stoking 'anti-Muslim hysteria.'

'You do not have the authority to unilaterally declare any Americans or American institutions terrorist groups, nor is there any basis to level this smear against our organization,' wrote Robert S. McCaw, CAIR’s government affairs director."