Two retired FBI agents who investigated the 1993 World Trade Center bombing have condemned New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani for campaigning alongside Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a cleric with ties to the bombing's mastermind. Mamdani attended prayers at Wahhaj's Brooklyn mosque and posted a photo praising him as a community pillar. Critics, including Muslim reformers, warn that the alliance promotes extremism.
On Friday, Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani visited Masjid at-Taqwa in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood for prayers. He later shared a photo on social media smiling with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, describing him as "one of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders and a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community." This occurred amid Mamdani's campaign for mayor, where he was a toddler during the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that Wahhaj has been linked to through past associations.
Retired FBI agent Frank Pellegrino, who probed the February 26, 1993, attack, called Mamdani's embrace of Wahhaj an example of "ignorance of history." He stated, "Either he doesn’t know who Wahhaj is or he doesn’t care. Whichever it is, Mamdani looks foolish."
John Anticev, the lead case agent on the bombing, echoed this, saying, "Everybody who is in politics should be aware of the people whose endorsement they’re getting. Imam Siraj Wahhaj has been a cleric who has endorsed a radical agenda."
Wahhaj, born Jeffrey Kearse, founded the mosque in 1981. Prosecutors noted he sponsored appearances by Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, the "Blind Sheikh" convicted of masterminding the 1993 plot. Wahhaj served as a character witness for Abdel Rahman, calling him a "respected scholar," and raised funds for El Sayyid Nosair's defense, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy related to the bombing. Wahhaj has denied involvement in the attack and was not charged.
Muslim reformer Dalia Ziada, a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, expressed concern: "By embracing Wahhaj, Zohran Mamdani is sidelining moderate Muslims and normalizing an extremist ideology that once inspired terror on American soil."
Soraya Deen, founder of the Muslim Women Speakers Movement, described a 2005 talk by Wahhaj as calling to "destroy America, and make Islam great," labeling the photo with Mamdani as "dangerous for America and dangerous for Muslims."
Wahhaj's history includes preaching against American democracy, supporting strict Islamic law, and raising funds for figures like Aafia Siddiqui, known as "Lady Al Qaeda." In June, a PAC backing Mamdani received $100,000 from a fund tied to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, designated an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas funding case. Wahhaj did not respond to comment requests.