Iraq religious procession misrepresented as Zohran Mamdani supporters
- Published on July 1, 2025 at 18:59
- 4 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
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"What is going on in New York?" says a June 25, 2025 post on X from Ian Miles Cheong, a far-right blogger whom AFP has repeatedly fact-checked for spreading other misinformation.
Similar posts spread in various languages across X after 33-year-old Mamdani, a self-declared socialist, pulled off a surprise victory in New York City's June 24 Democratic mayoral primary, upsetting former state governor Andrew Cuomo.
Mamdani embraced his Muslim identity during the campaign, courting New Yorkers of his faith with frequent visits to mosques and community centers.
Racist attacks on Mamdani spiked following his win. On July 1, he told National Public Radio: "It's been very difficult to see just how much of this hatred has been normalized."
Yet South Asians and Muslims have rejoiced in his primary success. If elected mayor in November, he would become the first Muslim to hold the office.
The video Cheong and others shared, however, does not show his supporters celebrating his primary win.
Reverse image searches surfaced matching videos posted to TikTok, Instagram and other platforms as early as January 16 (archived here and here).
Further keyword searches and a review of comments under the videos indicated that the footage showed a procession that day commemorating the death anniversary of the Prophet Mohammed's granddaughter in Baghdad, Iraq.
Hussein Wali Lami, the reciter seen in the footage speaking atop the floating stage in the center of the street, and Mawkeb Hamel Al-Lewa, a religious procession group, posted videos and photos showing the same structures to YouTube, Telegram and other platforms (archived here, here, here, here, here, here and here).
AFP could not verify the exact location of the footage, but the posts -- as well as an event brochure Mawkeb Hamel Al-Lewa shared January 10 on Telegram -- place it in Baghdad's Al-Ghazaliya neighborhood (archived here). Photos and videos attached to one Google Maps location in the area show the same buildings as well as what appears to be a similar procession in 2024 (archived here).
AFP previously debunked another video from Karbala, Iraq that was falsely claimed to show Mamdani's supporters, here.
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