Maryland House Bill 1066 was signed into law by Governor Wes Moore in June 2023. It requires that a commission with nearly two-dozen members be convened to “develop strategies to prevent and respond to hate crime activity and evaluate state laws and policies relating to hate crimes.” Among the members mandated in the bill is CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations).

CAIR is a longtime, pro-Hamas lobby and has refused to condemn Hamas for the October 7th terror attack. The national executive director is on tape stating he was "happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land" and that Gazans have a "right to self-defense," while Israel does not. The White House called these "shocking, antisemitic comments." CAIR has since been removed from the U.S. national strategy on antisemitism.

Zainab Chaudry, the Maryland executive director of CAIR, currently serves on the Attorney General's Hate Crime Commission in Maryland. She was re-instated after being temporarily suspended for her antisemitic and pro-terror social media posts. For example, she called Hamas "freedom fighters," the terror attack an "uprising" and "resistance," and compared Israel to "Nazis." See the screen shots below of her social media posts. 

 Does this sound like an individual or organization who should be on a Hate Crime Commission?!

However, Zainab Chaudry was re-instated after a petition from CAIR demanding Chaudry be reinstated received more than 5,500 signatures. The Attorney General's decision was due to not having "the authority to remove a Commissioner before the expiration of their term nor the authority to suspend a Commissioner during their term of service."

We call upon the Attorney General, the Governor and elected officials in Annapolis to condemn CAIR and Zainab Chaudry's antisemitism and support of terrorism. We call upon the Legislature to amend the law to remove CAIR from the Commission and allow for Commissioners, such as Zainab Chaudry, to be removed when they violate the code of conduct.