Texas AG Targets ‘Supporting Branches’ of Radical Islamic Terror Group Hamas Operating in U.S.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton joined a legal push against Hamas-linked groups in the United States, citing the need to “decimate and dismantle” radical Islamic terrorist organizations and their “domestic supporting branches.”

On Tuesday, the Office of the Texas Attorney General confirmed that Ken Paxton joined a coalition of states in filing an amicus brief supporting victims of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terrorist attack and civilians displaced or endangered by the group’s ongoing terrorism. The brief was filed in support of claims brought under the federal Anti-Terrorism Act.

The filing backs plaintiffs who sued American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP), citing an October 8, 2023, declaration in which the groups stated they were “Part of” a “Unity Intifada” under Hamas’s “unified command,” issued one day after the attacks.

Paxton’s office argues that U.S. law allows victims of terrorism to seek accountability beyond foreign terrorist organizations, extending to domestic groups accused of supporting terrorist activity.

Announcing the action, Paxton said, “Radical Islamic terrorist groups like Hamas must be decimated and dismantled, and that includes their domestic supporting branches.”

“Terrorism relies on complex networks and intermediaries, and the law must be enforced against those who knowingly provide material support,” he added. “My office will continue to defend Americans who have been brutally affected by terrorism and ensure accountability under the law.”

The attorney general’s office framed the brief as part of a broader effort to confront Islamic extremist movements as a domestic threat to Americans, pointing to Paxton’s prior defense of Texas’s designation of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations.

The brief, led by Virginia and Iowa, was filed as the underlying litigation continues.

Last month, Paxton noted that “radical Islamist terrorist groups are anti-American,” as he called for an end to the “infiltration of these dangerous individuals into Texas.”