Virginia’s attorney general has opened an investigation into an anti-Israel group that has served as a cog in the national effort to undermine support for the Jewish state as it faces down the Hamas terror group.
Republican attorney general Jason Miyares announced on Tuesday that he is probing American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), alleging the organization "may have used funds raised for impermissible purposes under state law, including benefitting or providing support to terrorist organizations."
AMP is a leading force in the anti-Israel movement and is alleged to have ties to Hamas, the group responsible for the Oct. 7 slaughter of more than 1,400 Israelis. Since war broke out, AMP has organized a series of pro-Palestinian rallies that have devolved into pro-Hamas propaganda. The investigation, which is being handled by the state’s consumer protection section, aims to determine if the anti-Israel group has run afoul of Virginia’s charitable solicitation laws, which strictly prohibit funds from bolstering designated terror groups.
Miyares’s office says AMP has been "fundraising without proper registration" and "may be soliciting contributions in the commonwealth without first having registered with the commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services."
The state will also probe allegations AMP has ties to Hamas, an accusation that stems from a lawsuit showing that a network of anti-Israel groups, including AMP, were "providing material support to Hamas."
Miyares’s office would not provide the Washington Free Beacon with additional details into probe, including information the state may have about the group's ties to Hamas, saying officials "can't comment on the details of ongoing investigations."
AMP has long faced accusations it maintains fundraising ties to Hamas. Salah Sarsour, one of the group’s board members, is alleged to have played a role in 1990s terrorism fundraising case run by the FBI that detailed American financial channels to the Iran-backed terror group.
In recent weeks, AMP has galvanized anti-Israel activists across the country to protest Israel, claiming the Jewish state "is now engaged in a full-fledged genocidal rampage and its main objective is the complete and irreversible destruction of Gaza."
AMP did not respond to a request for comment about the attorney general's allegations.