Following Zohran Mamdani’s historic victory in NYC’s 2025 Democratic mayoral primary—potentially making him the city’s first Muslim mayor—Islamophobic rhetoric circulated online, with some conservative figures implying that his win could lead to a “second 9/11”-style attack in the United States.
As these narratives gained traction, a wave of misinformation followed, reinforcing harmful stereotypes and contributing to the stigmatization of Muslims, particularly in New York City.
Misbar investigated key claims and visuals that surfaced following Mamdani’s Democratic primary win on June 24.
No Evidence NYC’s Muslim Mayoral Candidate Said America “Deserved” 9/11 Attacks
Among these was a false claim that Zohran Mamdani said America “deserved” the 9/11 attacks.
However, there is no evidence he ever made this statement. Mamdani has acknowledged 9/11’s lasting impact, mourning the nearly 3,000 victims and those affected by the subsequent wars.
The quote was misleadingly attributed to Zohran Mamdani after images of him appeared alongside Hasan Piker during Piker’s Twitch stream in April 2025 in Astoria, NY.
Further investigation traced the quote to an August 2019 livestream by progressive commentator Hasan Piker, who controversially said “America deserved 9/11” while criticizing U.S. foreign policy—specifically responding to remarks by Rep. Dan Crenshaw that seemed to downplay the causes of the Iraq War.
Piker has since apologized, admitting that his words were inappropriate and gave right-wing critics fuel for misinformation.
Pilgrimage Videos from Iraq Mistakenly Linked to NYC
Footage also circulated online claiming to show crowds dancing to Arabic music in New York City streets following Zohran Mamdani’s 2025 Democratic mayoral primary win.
The first video—uploaded on August 26, 2024—actually shows the Arbaeen pilgrimage in Karbala, Iraq, one of the world’s largest religious gatherings.
Image analysis and cross-checking with Anadolu Agency photos taken at the same time confirmed the footage is from Karbala and unrelated to New York City.
Geolocation via Google Maps identified the location as a section of Al-Jumhuriya Street near Al-Kawthar Mall in Karbala.
The second video, shared on January 16, 2025, by a Shiite religious page, was confirmed by a Karbala-based photographer to show Latmiyyah (chest-beating) ceremonies by Iraqi Shia youth commemorating the martyrdom of Lady Zainab al-Kubra.
Another photographer identified the location as Baghdad’s Al-Ghazaliya district during an event organized by the Iraqi group “Mawkeb Hamel Al-Liwaa (AS).”
Drone footage shared by the group’s official page on the same day confirmed the authenticity and location of the video.
Google Maps footage from a different angle also matches the site where the video was filmed—near Al-Ghazaliya Road in Baghdad, close to Sayida Zainab Mosque—aligning with the group’s known and exclusive area of activity.
Video Does Not Show Muslim Patrols Harassing People for Drinking Alcohol in NYC
Another claim alleged that members of the "Muslim Community Patrol" (MCP) in the U.S. wore NYPD-style uniforms and patrolled New York neighborhoods, confronting individuals for drinking alcohol in Muslim-majority areas.
This claim was based on edited footage from a 2019 segment aired by One America News Network (OANN), which raised concerns about religiously motivated harassment in the U.S. after the patrols appeared.
However, the segment did not provide direct evidence linking these patrols to harassment in New York. Instead, it showed footage of similar Muslim patrols confronting individuals for public drinking in European cities. No credible reports have linked the group to harassment in the city.
Notably, the footage carried a CNN watermark and was traced to a 2013 CNN report on Muslim patrols in East London, featuring videos originally posted by the group itself on YouTube.
The Muslim Community Patrol (MCP), launched in 2018 to foster safer communities in New York through patrols, translation services, rights education, and liaison with the NYPD, has been inactive since 2021 with no public activity or online presence.
Who is Zohran Mamdani, the potential new mayor of NYC?
Zohran Mamdani is a Ugandan-born state assemblyman and the Democratic front-runner for New York City mayor. His primary victory signals a progressive shift in the city’s politics, though critics argue he is too radical to manage NYC’s $115 billion budget.
A Bowdoin College graduate, Mamdani co-founded Students for Justice in Palestine. Since the war in Gaza, he has condemned Israeli actions as “genocide” and “apartheid,” called for PM Netanyahu’s arrest, and introduced legislation to revoke the tax-exempt status of charities linked to Israeli settlements. While critical of Israeli policies, Mamdani affirms Israel’s right to exist and pledges to fight antisemitism by increasing funding for hate crime prevention.
NYC Severely Affected by 9/11 Attacks That Took Thousands of Lives
On September 11, 2001, New York City was among the hardest hit in coordinated attacks that killed 2,977 people across NYC, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.
Two planes struck the World Trade Center, while others hit the Pentagon and crashed in Pennsylvania. The attacks triggered prolonged U.S.-led military campaigns against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and the Middle East, leading to years of chaos, war, destruction, and significant loss of life.
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