Harun Nasrullah
A US federal judge has rejected an attempt by far-right activist and Trump ally Laura Loomer, who has publicly described herself as a “proud Islamophobe,” to stop paying court-ordered damages to America’s largest Muslim civil rights organisation, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Loomer has been required to make monthly payments to CAIR since 2023 as part of a legal settlement following the failure of a lawsuit she filed against the organisation. On February 2 the court dismissed her latest application to halt the payments, upholding the terms of the settlement.
“Since 2023, Ms. Loomer has been sending monthly checks (cheques) to CAIR as the result of a failed lawsuit she once filed against us (yes, you read that right: America’s loudest anti-Muslim extremist has spent years funding America’s largest Muslim civil rights group),” CAIR said in a statement.
“We look forward to receiving Ms. Loomer’s next check (cheque) and, Insha Allah, once again using her money to defend American Muslims from hate while advancing civil rights for everyone in our nation.”
In 2022, the US Court of Appeals upheld a $125,000 judgment against Loomer after she falsely alleged that CAIR had pressured the social media platform X (then Twitter) to restrict her account. The court found no evidence to support the claim.
A settlement reached in 2023 reduced the amount to $73,500, payable in monthly instalments as damages. Following a controversial move by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in late 2025 to designate CAIR a “foreign terrorist organisation”, a designation rejected by civil rights groups and legal experts, Loomer applied to the court for permission to stop paying the damages.
CAIR litigation director Lena Masri welcomed the ruling, saying the payments would continue to be used to support “legal representation to the American Muslim community and advance free speech”.
Loomer has a documented history of anti-Muslim rhetoric, having previously referred to Muslims as “savages” and described Islam as a “cancer”. Despite this, she has remained closely aligned with Donald Trump’s political circle and has been linked to numerous senior dismissals across federal agencies.
For Muslim civil rights advocates, the ruling was seen as a reminder that Islamophobic activism can carry legal consequences.
While CAIR itself noted the irony of the situation, the court’s decision makes clear that the payments are not voluntary contributions but damages arising from a failed legal action — a distinction with significant legal and political weight.
Feature photo: Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and self-described “proud Islamophobe,” will continue paying court-ordered damages to the Council on American-Islamic Relations following a US federal judge’s ruling. (Credit: Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia)
