Mosque Shooting Revives Scrutiny Over 9/11 Ties, Imam’s Pro‑Oct. 7 Remarks
Monday’s mass shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, which left three people dead, renewed attention on the mosque — which previously drew national attention over its ties to two 9/11 hijackers and, more recently, criticism surrounding its imam’s repeated comments describing the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre and violence against Israel as justified acts of “resistance.”
Authorities are investigating the attack as a hate crime after two teenage suspects — identified as Caleb Liam Vazquez, 18, and Cain Lee Clark, 17 — allegedly opened fire at the mosque before being found dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds in a nearby vehicle. Investigators said they recovered Nazi symbols, extremist writings and a manifesto advocating anti-Semitic and racial hatred, while officials said the two men appeared to harbor a broad neo-Nazi ideology.
As the investigation unfolded, new scrutiny also focused on the mosque’s history — from long-standing attention around its ties to two 9/11 hijackers to more recent controversies involving imam Taha Hassane and members of his family over extreme anti-Israel rhetoric and radical pro-Palestinian activism.
The Islamic Center of San Diego initially gained national attention after it was revealed that 9/11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar worshiped there while living in San Diego. The 9/11 Commission detailed allegations that members of the mosque community helped the two men obtain housing and other assistance after their arrival in Southern California, while subsequent additional reports were linked to the mosque helping them obtain documents, purchase a vehicle and access funds.
The commission did not find that the mosque or its members knowingly participated in the plot. Separate reports also allege that members of the mosque held a welcome meeting for the two men after they arrived in San Diego in 2000.
Most recently, Hassane – who has led the mosque since 2004 – has drawn criticism over sermons and social media posts broadcast in the days following the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel, in which around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage in what was widely described as the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
“This didn’t start last week or October 7,” Hassane said in a video posted on social media days after the attack. “This is the result of a brutal Zionist occupation and genocide. »
Hassane later reiterated this message when promoting the sermon on Instagram, captioning the post: “Resistance is justified when people are under occupation and let’s not let them change this narrative. »
Less than two weeks after the Hamas attack, Hassane continued to defend what he called “resistance,” arguing during an October 20 sermon that violence carried out in response to what he called “occupation” should be considered justified.
“When people are busy, then resistance is justified,” Hassane said. “We cannot accuse someone who is fighting for his life as a terrorist. The terrorist is the one who started the occupation, not the one who defends himself.”
Hassane’s comments were not limited to the immediate aftermath of October 7. Subsequent social media posts and public activism continued to draw attention to his rhetoric regarding Israel and his support for radical anti-Israel causes.
In January 2024, Hassane accused Israel of practicing “apartheid”. A few weeks later, he posted: “Zionism is Islamophobia! » In May 2024, he publicly supported anti-Israel encampments at the University of California, San Diego, appearing alongside protesters and urging the university to “boycott and divest from Israel.”
Hassane’s family has also been put under surveillance due to their anti-Israel activism and inflammatory rhetoric.
According to the monitoring group Canary Mission, his daughter, Selma Hassane, “has promoted incitement to hatred, spread hatred against Israel, engaged in anti-Israel activism, and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.” » The group has documented years of activism, including support for the radical academic group Students for Justice in Palestine and activities promoting anti-Israel protests and pro-Palestinian organizing efforts.
Meanwhile, Hassane’s wife, Lallia Allali, attracted significant backlash weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks. republication an image depicting a Star of David decapitating five babies alongside the words: “The devil kills.”
The controversy had significant professional consequences. At the time, Allali was an emeritus member of the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Community Advisory Board, wrote columns largely focused on religious understanding and “Islamophobia” and was affiliated with the University of San Diego, where she taught and wrote scholarly works focused on combating anti-Muslim bias.
The Union-Tribune later described the post as “a graphic and deplorable anti-Semitic image,” writing that after confirming the republication, “we accepted her resignation and removed her from the list of board members and contributors on our website.”
The University of San Diego also announced that Allali had retired from teaching, saying, “While individuals have the right to express their opinions on their personal accounts, they do not reflect the opinions of USD leadership or any official position of the university.” »
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean and director of global advocacy at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, strongly condemned the publication at the time, calling it a modern-day “blood libel” and calling the images “despicable and deplorable.”
Residents living near the mosque also told the New York Post that tensions with the surrounding community escalated after the Oct. 7 attacks, including involving a nearby Hebrew-language charter school.
“Hassane was supposed to bring all communities together, but he quickly became a hostile figure,” local journalist and mother Stella Escobedo told the outlet.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
