Orlando Victims Denied Key State Counterterrorism Law in March by House Leaders
To add insult to injury in the wake of the horrific Orlando Jihadist terror attack, it turns out that the victims of the attack could have had a powerful civil tool to pursue those who may have supported Omar Mateen.
State legislation known as “Andy’s Law” creates a civil cause of action empowering victims of terrorism to sue in state court those who provide material support and aid those who commit acts of terrorism. Andy’s Law has already passed into law in Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas, North Carolina and Tennessee. The law provides for treble damages and attorney’s fees to be awarded to terror victims or their surviving family members.
It is called Andy’s Law after Private Andy Long, who was gunned down on June 1, 2009 by a Jihadist named Abdulhakim Muhammed outside an Army Recruiting office in Little Rock, Arkansas, as reported in the documentary film, “Losing Our Sons.”
Andy’s Law seemed a shoe-in to pass in the 2016 legislative session in Florida, but was prevented from passage by leadership in the Florida House of Representatives at the 11th hour.
Authored by Senator Joe Negron and Representative Mike Hill, the bill had passed 3 committees in the Florida Senate, 2 subcommittees of the House and a full committee of the House without a single opposing vote.
It then passed the full Senate 35-0.
At the 11th hour the bill was blocked from a vote on the House floor.
The question remains: why did House leaders block a measure that had sailed through state legislatures elsewhere and had unanimous bipartisan support in the Florida legislature?
The only known opponents of Andy’s Law are Muslim Brotherhood groups, as identified in the largest terrorism financing prosecution in U.S. history, the U.S. v. the Holy Land Foundation.
In that trial, groups such as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) and others were named as Muslim Brotherhood fronts and unindicted co-conspirators.
All of these well-funded groups and their allies are active in Florida. They are the only known opponents of Andy’s Law. This raises serious questions about the political terrain in the Sunshine State to say the least when a Republican-led and dominated body would allow a popular counterterrorism measure opposed by nefarious elements of the Muslim Brotherhood to be mysteriously killed.
As a result, today, the mourning victims of the Orlando attack have been denied a vital civil counterterror tool.
