Zohran Mamdani's Past Support for Controversial Figures and Groups

Associations with Imam Siraj Wahaj

• 🎯 Zohran Mamdani was photographed with Imam Siraj Wahaj, a figure described as a prominent Muslim leader and a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community.
• ⚠️ Prosecutors identified Wahaj as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
• 🗣️ Wahaj has been reported to have called for an army to wage jihad on New York City and derided the LGBTQ community.
• 🏛️ Mamdani claimed other politicians like Eric Adams and Michael Bloomberg also associated with Wahaj, though their interactions and the context differ.

Support for Anwar al-Awlaki

• 📱 In 2015, Mamdani publicly defended Anwar al-Awlaki, an al-Qaeda operative and propagandist.
• ✈️ Al-Awlaki was linked to the September 11th hijackers and was killed in a US drone strike in Yemen in 2011.

Praise for Holy Land Foundation

• 🎶 Mamdani's 2017 rap track "Salam" praised the heads of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.
• 💰 The Holy Land Foundation was convicted in 2008 for funding over $12 million to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
• 💔 The foundation was linked to funding the murder of American student David Boy in Jerusalem.