Investigation ordered by Oklahoma governor will demonize Muslim people, expert says

Stitt’s executive order earlier this month requires that the state’s Department of Public Safety and the Homeland Security office conduct an investigation to determine if CAIR or the Muslim Brotherhood present any terrorism-related threats to Oklahoma. It also seeks to ensure taxpayer-funded state resources do not support or enable terrorism and also requires the state agencies to “take lawful preventive and investigative action supported by the resulting intelligence.” 

Pauline Jones, a political science professor at University of Michigan and the former chair of the school’s Islamic Studies program, said CAIR is likely being targeted because of its success in advocating for the civil rights of Muslim Americans, the group’s sole focus. 

“There’s a paper trail of trying to undermine CAIR, and again, I think maybe it’s because it’s such a prominent, successful civil rights and activist organization,” Jones said.

Investigations and terrorist designations undercut the ability of CAIR to fundraise and function, she said. 

Some branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, the second group mentioned in Stitt’s order, have already been designated a terrorist organization by the federal government. The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in the 1920s, is an Islamic political movement.

There is no evidence of CAIR being tied to the Brotherhood or terrorist groups, Jones said. CAIR has repeatedly condemned acts of terror and any violence against civilians. 

She said anti-Muslim efforts such as this create “fear that’s nonsensical, that doesn’t need to exist” and demonize the organization.

But Jones said Oklahoma’s executive order comes amid a tense midterm election year with Democrats seeking to regain the majority in Congress. She pointed to Abdul El-Sayed, a Muslim American, who recently won Michigan’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary and would be the first Muslim senator if elected in November. 

Republicans are also “scrambling” to justify the war with Iran, Jones said.

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“I think the Iranian war, that context is really important for this because it’s once again why we should fear Muslims and why we should demonize them,” she said. “Or that they shouldn’t have political power and representation in the United States. And there’s a sense, I think, among many Republicans that that narrative will be successful in the context of this war with Iran.”

Governor orders Oklahoma investigation 

Tevis Hillis, a spokesperson with Stitt’s office, did not answer questions about what Oklahoma-specific evidence or events suggest that CAIR presents a threat to the state. Hillis referred comment to state Sen. Christi Gillespie, R-Broken Arrow, despite executive orders being Stitt’s responsibility. 

Gillespie was not consulted about the executive order, has not reviewed it and therefore is not able to comment on it, a Senate spokesperson said. 

Earlier this year, the Republican governors in Texas and Florida have issued executive orders designating CAIR as a terrorist organization in their state. Those designations have been met with lawsuits. There was also a congressional bill in 2025 asking for CAIR to be designated as a terrorist organization that “didn’t go anywhere,” Jones said.

Oklahoma also has a history of Islamophobic rhetoric from public officials. 

In 2007, over a dozen state lawmakers returned gifted copies of the Quran to the advisory council that had given them to legislators. Muslim advocacy days at the state Capitol have been met with protesters and a need for increased security. 

This year, a Republican lawmaker proposed a bill to ban Sharia law in Oklahoma but it ultimately failed to move forward. Voters in 2010 had passed a state question banning Oklahoma courts from considering Sharia law in its decisions, but a federal court struck it down in 2012 because it discriminated against a specific religion. 

Construction of a proposed mosque in Broken Arrow was denied by the local city council over zoning requirements. The denial has since been met with a lawsuit from CAIR and an investigation from the Department of Justice. 

Targeting CAIR

Stitt’s executive order references a November order from President Donald Trump that designates certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations. The Oklahoma order calls the Palestinian group Hamas a product of the Muslim Brotherhood and states that it has committed acts of terror. It also states that CAIR has been designated as a terror group by the United Arab Emirates, an action that at the time was rejected by the U.S. government. 

“Oklahoma will not turn a blind eye to organizations or networks that may support terrorism,” Stitt said in a news release. 

CAIR’s Oklahoma chapter said the civil rights organization has a history of protecting free speech, religious freedom and equality and has pursued it through successful lawsuits. 

“Our successful civil rights work in Oklahoma is exactly why Gov. Stitt is targeting our organization with debunked conspiracy theories,” CAIR said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing our civil rights work in Oklahoma and proving once again that the Constitution is stronger than any politician’s bigotry.”

Stephen Nemeth, a professor at Oklahoma State University with a focus on international relations and terrorism, said while ordering an investigation “sounds menacing,” it’s more of a “convenient bogeyman.”

“It’s probably just a way to kind of gin up maybe some activism or voter interest,” he said. “… It may be a way to drive up support for one segment of the Republican Party as opposed to another. So if you can tie someone as being sympathetic to the side that they’re going after, then you can gin up support for the more conservative side.”

Just the suggestion of an investigation is enough for most Americans to think there is something wrong or a reason to be suspicious, Nemeth said. 

“So people are going to become suspicious, and then they’re going to maybe think about ‘Who’s a politician that is anti these things that I find scary,’ and it might help to drive support for that particular person,” he said. 

While Nemeth said he doesn’t expect anything of importance to be found in an investigation, even a low-level individual with any ties or relation to someone with ties to terrorism will be enough reason for some people to “justify” the order.

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