Politics
US influencers falsely associate Mamdani with extremist group
WASHINGTON: US right-wing influencers falsely linked New York´s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to the Daesh militant group, amplifying a fabricated statement that garnered millions of views on social media, researchers said on Thursday.
Mamdani — the first Muslim and South Asian elected to lead America´s largest city — secured a decisive victory this week in the face of fierce attacks on his policy proposals and religious background.
A slew of anti-Mamdani accounts on the Elon Musk-owned platform X have circulated a statement purportedly from Daesh titled “Operation Manhattan Project,” which alluded to an attack in New York City on Election Day against what it called “American aggression.”
Among the influencers who linked the fake communique to Mamdani was Laura Loomer, a conservative influencer who has Trump’s ear.
“The Muslims can’t think of a better way for the Muslims to celebrate the victory of a Muslim mayoral candidate today than by committing an ISIS (Islamic State) attack in NYC,” Loomer wrote in a post on X that racked up more than 200,000 views.
Other conservative accounts cited the purported statement to falsely claim that the extremist group had endorsed Mamdani as mayor.
The posts collectively amassed millions of views across the platform.
The purported letter, which displayed the logo of the Amaq News Agency, was fabricated, according to multiple researchers including the disinformation watchdog NewsGuard.
Meili Criezis, an American University academic, told the watchdog that the supposed communique did not bear the hallmarks of other statements that emanated from Amaq.
“Amaq is used [by the Islamic State] to share news and claim responsibility for attacks,” Criezis said.
“It doesn’t make threats like what is stated in the screenshot.”
The Information Epidemiology Lab, another research group, also said the circulated communique “sharply” diverged from established Daesh “media practices in language, style, formatting, and distribution.”
The fabricated statement appeared to first surface on the far-right message board 4chan, a known haven for conspiracy theories.
In recent months, Mamdani, a long-standing supporter of the Palestinian cause, has vocally denounced antisemitism as well as the Islamophobia he himself suffered following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The 34-year-old state lawmaker — who appealed to voters by pledging to tackle the soaring cost of living — has repeatedly been targeted by racist tropes and misinformation.
In the weeks leading up to the highly anticipated election, AFP’s fact-checkers debunked several false internet claims targeting Mamdani, including that a noncitizen illegally voted for him and that one of his campaign staffers posed beside graffiti of Nazi swastika.
New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has appointed former US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chairperson Lina Maliha Khan, a renowned Pakistani-American legal scholar, to co-chair his transition team, he announced on Thursday.
Maamdani, 34, the first Muslim and a South Asian, will be sworn in on January 1, 2026. He will lead the biggest city in the US, a job which comes with a $116 billion budget and global scrutiny.
Khan, 36, who led the FTC during the Biden administration, will co-lead the Mamdani transition team with three other veterans of New York City Hall, the seat of the local government, the mayor-elect announced in a statement.
“New Yorkers sent a clear message this week that it’s time to build a city that working people can actually afford. I’m excited to help Zohran build a team that will usher in a new era for New York City and set a new model for Democratic governance,” Khan said in a statement.
Khan played a significant role in former president Joe Biden’s antitrust and consumer protection agenda.
As FTC chairperson, she ramped up scrutiny of corporate mergers while spearheading administration efforts to defend Americans from unfair business practices, such as “junk fees” and mandatory arbitration clauses.
While progressives applauded Khan’s efforts to crack down on corporate power, the Biden administration’s aggressive stance toward Big Tech companies also played a role in antagonising several major Silicon Valley figures.
As FTC chairperson, Khan was willing to take on major corporations such as Amazon and Microsoft to combat monopolies, earning praise from Democrats as well as Republicans, including conservative J D Vance, now vice president, and Steve Bannon, a former White House chief strategist.
Khan’s action against Ticketmaster, the world’s largest ticketing company, drew bipartisan support for a Justice Department lawsuit against the company in May last year.
Khan was born in London to Pakistani parents who immigrated to the United States in 2000. She is married to Dr Shah Rukh Ali, a cardiologist at Columbia University.
- Seventeen-year-old suspect undergoing surgery: official.
- Police say 55 injured in explosions during Friday prayers.
- The mosque is located in the school compound.
Explosions at a mosque in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta that injured dozens of people during Friday prayers could have been an attack, officials indicated, with a 17-year-old identified as the suspected perpetrator.
Police said 55 people were in hospitals with a range of minor to serious injuries, including burns, after the blasts at the mosque inside a school complex in the Kelapa Gading area.
“The explosion was loud, so loud that I could not breathe because I was shocked,” said Luciana, 43, who was working at the school canteen at the time. She described multiple blasts and panic as dozens fled the complex.
“I thought it was a short circuit or the sound system which exploded — we were so afraid so we rushed out.”
Deputy house speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, speaking to media after visiting a hospital, said the young male suspect was undergoing surgery, without giving more details or possible motive.
Investigation
At a news conference, Jakarta city police chief Asep Edi Suheri said a probe was underway.
“We have taken several measures such as investigating the crime scene, setting up a police line and sterilising the area,” Suheri said.
Indonesia does have a history of attacks on churches and Western targets – but not mosques. Islamist militancy has largely been suppressed in recent years.
News channel KompasTV showed footage of a green-painted mosque with a line of shoes outside, cordoned off with police tape. There were no signs of damage to the exterior.
State news agency Antara quoted the deputy chief security minister Lodewijk Freidrich as saying there were two explosions.
Black-clad police carrying assault rifles guarded the iron gates of the compound, with emergency vehicles and armoured police vehicles on the street outside.
The complex is located in a crowded area of North Jakarta on largely navy-owned land, home to many military personnel and retired officers.
- Seventeen-year-old suspect undergoing surgery: official.
- Police say 55 injured in explosions during Friday prayers.
- The mosque is located in the school compound.
Explosions at a mosque in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta that injured dozens of people during Friday prayers could have been an attack, officials indicated, with a 17-year-old identified as the suspected perpetrator.
Police said 55 people were in hospitals with a range of minor to serious injuries, including burns, after the blasts at the mosque inside a school complex in the Kelapa Gading area.
“The explosion was loud, so loud that I could not breathe because I was shocked,” said Luciana, 43, who was working at the school canteen at the time. She described multiple blasts and panic as dozens fled the complex.
“I thought it was a short circuit or the sound system which exploded — we were so afraid so we rushed out.”
Deputy house speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, speaking to media after visiting a hospital, said the young male suspect was undergoing surgery, without giving more details or possible motive.
Investigation
At a news conference, Jakarta city police chief Asep Edi Suheri said a probe was underway.
“We have taken several measures such as investigating the crime scene, setting up a police line and sterilising the area,” Suheri said.
Indonesia does have a history of attacks on churches and Western targets – but not mosques. Islamist militancy has largely been suppressed in recent years.
News channel KompasTV showed footage of a green-painted mosque with a line of shoes outside, cordoned off with police tape. There were no signs of damage to the exterior.
State news agency Antara quoted the deputy chief security minister Lodewijk Freidrich as saying there were two explosions.
Black-clad police carrying assault rifles guarded the iron gates of the compound, with emergency vehicles and armoured police vehicles on the street outside.
The complex is located in a crowded area of North Jakarta on largely navy-owned land, home to many military personnel and retired officers.
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