A California district attorney retweeted images of 9/11 on social media and made comments criticizing the election of Zohran Mamdani as New York City’s first Muslim mayor. Despite the bloody images and strong condemnation of Mamdani, Dan Dow insists he has no issues with the Muslim community in San Luis Obispo County, where he is the top prosecutor.
Dow said in an emailed statement to The Times on Thursday that he has “strong ties” to the community.
But his post sparked a backlash, with a Muslim advocacy group demanding an apology and an investigation.
On Wednesday, the Dow Retweeted a post Content on a popular right-wing account on
one Second visual tweet, More graphic than the first, showing two angle shots of a plane hurtling toward one of the towers. The message was posted by the leader of a militant group described by some as a hate group that claims to “fight the threat of Islamic supremacists, radical leftists and their allies.”
Each article was published after Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, won the New York City mayoral election.
Days later, the posts were shared and retweeted at Dow Chemical Co., 3,000 miles away, drawing condemnation from some locals. Reported by the San Luis Obispo Tribune.
In response to an email from The Times seeking comment, Dow said his question had nothing to do with the county’s Muslim population, which numbers about 500, Assn reported. Archives of Religious Data.
“I share these posts because, in my opinion, Mamdani, a self-proclaimed socialist, will destroy New York,” Dow responded. “I support the Muslim community and have strong ties to the Muslim community in San Luis Obispo.”
The first tweet Dow retweeted came from the account @EndWokeness, which vowed to its nearly 4 million followers that it was “confronting, exposing and mocking wokeness.”
The second post was from Amy Mekelburg, founder of the Rise, Align, Ignite, and Reclaim (RAIR) Foundation, which is listed as a hate group by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
The commission’s Los Angeles office late Thursday asked Dow to apologize and “retract his recent anti-Muslim posts on social media.” CAIR-LA also requested an independent investigation into Dow’s conduct and “his suitability to continue serving as prosecutor.”
The group was outraged that he had retweeted Merkelberg, whom they described as a “well-known anti-Muslim extremist.”
Merkelberg wrote a rather lengthy message in the video post, saying she “dedicated my all” to warning the world of “the threat of Islam after 9/11.”
“Now… seeing New York – my city – standing in this moment, someone like Zoran Mamdani could even be elected,” she wrote. “Oh my God, New York, what have you done?”
CAIR-LA said Merkelberg “erroneously equated Mamdani’s election with 9/11, reinforcing a harmful stereotype that Muslims are intrinsically linked to terrorism simply because of their faith.”
Dow added a message to his tweet on that particular post, which began by highlighting his 32 years in the U.S. Army and four tours of duty overseas.
“I remember September 11, 2001, when our country was attacked by Islamic extremists, like it was yesterday,” he wrote. “I love this country, but I have completely different views than Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old socialist.”
“I am deeply saddened to see New York torn apart by the election of an un-American socialist who wants to trample on the values and freedoms that millions of Americans have fought and died for,” he added in a tweet.
“Dow Chemical’s decision to republish content that weaponizes bigotry and baselessly links an elected Muslim official to terrorism is shocking and reflects the deep-rooted dehumanization and intimidation in this country that American Muslims have had to endure for decades,” CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush said in a statement.
Dow’s post also struck a nerve with Dr. Rushdie Khadr, his Muslim ally in San Luis Obispo, who called the district attorney a “personal friend” of the San Luis Obispo Tribune.
Khadr told the Tribune that the posts were “extremely inflammatory and put Muslims at risk of harm, especially Muslim women who wear hijab like my wife Nisha, whom Dan himself described as ‘a kind and gentle lady’ whom he ‘prayed for peace.'”
Khadr added that he believed Dow’s “ugly post” was “motivated by political disagreements with Mamdani” rather than any direct attack on Islam.
Dow’s tweets also drew other criticism.
San Luis Obispo County District 2 Supervisor Bruce Gibson called him a “Christian nationalist.”
Gibson said of Dow that he “holds a powerful public office that requires decency and discipline.” “This article is another example of him having neither.”
San Luis Obispo Mayor Erica Stewart said in an email to The Times that the city welcomes all community members.
“Dan Dow, as the county’s district attorney, is by definition expected to be objective and impartial,” she wrote. “For someone in his position to express racism is unacceptable.”
The Tao also has its defenders.
Orange County District Atty. Todd Spitzer serves with Dow on the California District Attorneys Association. Spitzer is the organization’s secretary-treasurer, while Dow is its president.
Spitzer found no errors in Dow’s social media posts.
“Elected officials have a platform to share their opinions and be judged by voters,” he wrote in an email. “It is heartbreaking to see someone who expresses such anti-public safety and anti-Semitic sentiments elected as mayor of New York, and we as elected protectors of public safety have the right to express that.”
