Overview
- A resurfaced 2020 video shows Kazi Fouzia saying relatives who join the NYPD could become “killers” during a discussion on Black liberation, with the clip recirculated by a Manhattan Institute analyst.
- Fouzia, director of organizing at Desis Rising Up and Moving, is leading Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s Worker Justice transition committee.
- Nassau County Executive and GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman is urging Mamdani to fire Fouzia, while a spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul condemned her remarks.
- Mamdani’s team has not commented on the footage as the transition faces growing political pressure.
- Community figures weighed in, with a Bangladeshi-American leader voicing strong support for the police and the ADL separately flagging Fouzia in a report on anti-Israel activity within the transition.