New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani paid tribute to the fallen off-duty officer killed in a shooting in a Midtown Manhattan office building on Monday.
Mamdani said at a press conference on Wednesday that he visited the family of Didarul Islam, who immigrated to the U.S. from Bangladesh and joined the New York Police Department (NYPD) in December 2021. Islam, who was 36 years old, was the first person shot and killed during the shooting.
He also spoke of the three other victims killed in the shooting and said millions of New Yorkers are praying for those injured.
“In this moment of mourning and of grief, I want to thank law enforcement for their response to the horrific shooting on Monday and their work in keeping New Yorkers safe,” Mamdani said. “I ask that in this moment, we come together as New Yorkers and we remember our four neighbors that were killed, we honor their memories and we live up to the way in which they led their lives.”
Mamdani had been in Uganda, where he is originally from, celebrating his wedding from earlier this year. He had planned to return to the U.S. by the end of the month.
His meeting with Islam’s family came after he received some backlash for his past criticism of the NYPD, including allegations of racial discrimination.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whom Mamdani defeated in the Democratic primary but is now running against him in the general election as an independent, argued during an appearance on CNN that Mamdani doesn’t understand the importance of the police department and public safety.
Mamdani previously supported the “defund the police” movement in 2020 but said during a primary debate this year that he didn’t plan to do so. Cuomo, however, argued that Mamdani’s past comments could hurt morale in the police department.
Mamdani also called for increased gun regulations in response to the shooting and backed New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) push for the revival of a federal assault weapons ban.
“As New Yorkers across the five boroughs and Americans across the country mourn this mass shooting, we are reminded that no matter how strong our gun laws are in this state, we are only as safe as the weakest laws in this nation,” he said.
