Zohran Mamdani has sparked a new wave of backlash online for his recent X post honoring a notorious anti-Israel agitator who joined him for dinner at the official residence of the mayor this week.
"Last night, as we marked the one year anniversary of his detention, Rama and I were honored to welcome Mahmoud, Noor, and their son Deen to Gracie Mansion to break our fast together," the mayor wrote.
The accompanying photo (above) shows the two couples smiling around the dinner table.
Syria-born Mahmoud Khalil was a graduate student at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs last year when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested him for immigration fraud, specifically for allegedly failing to disclose information about his involvement with an anti-Israel group on his green card application.
He graduated while in ICE detention and maintains that the 2023 massacre of more than 1,000 Israelis was Israel's fault.
The Trump administration labeled him a Hamas supporter, but then-candidate Mamdani called his arrest a "blatant assault on the First Amendment and a sign of advancing authoritarianism under Trump."
This new controversy comes in the wake of the arrest of two Pennsylvania men who tried to detonate homemade bombs on Saturday during an anti-Muslim protest outside of Gracie Mansion.
Mamdani was quick to call out the protest, which he said was organized by the far‑right and rooted in bigotry and white supremacy. He also emphasized that violence at a protest is unacceptable and "reprehensible."
The incident is being investigated as an "act of ISIS-inspired terrorism," but the mayor did not immediately mention the bombing suspects' alleged links to terrorism or explicitly label the attack as Islamic extremism.
Brigitte Gabriel, a national security expert and founder of ACT for America, is not surprised.
"I didn't expect anything else from Mamdani because, after all, he is a Shiite Muslim; his wife is a devout Shia Muslim," she notes. "They believe the ayatollah of Iran is their supreme leader because, according to the Shiite faith, he is Allah's representative on earth."
Gabriel says it is time to act.
"What it's going to take to push against this tide of Islamization of America is an activated citizenry who is engaged, who is involved politically," she insists.
And Gabriel believes Christian pastors must lead the charge.
"If you are a member of a church where your pastor is failing his duty and failing God and his purpose of being the leader of the flock, it's your time to leave that church," she says. "Go put your money at a church where you have a bold pastor who is willing to speak up about these issues."
ACT for America reportedly has 5 million digital activists and over 700,000 on-the-ground activists who are committed to safeguarding U.S. security and culture while preserving the civil liberties protected by the U.S. Constitution.
