Member of Maryland's hate crime commission suspended for alleged anti-semitic posts

MARYLAND - A member of the Maryland General Assembly’s Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention has been suspended after it was alleged that she made anti-Semitic posts online. 

The Office of the Attorney General says they were told about personal social media posts made by Zainab Chaudry, the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations – Maryland Office (CAIR-MD), in a letter sent by seven Maryland General Assembly delegates. 

The letter alleges that Chaudry "made several antisemitic posts on her public Facebook page," one of which, they claim, was a picture of the Nazi flag next to the Israeli flag with the caption, "That moment when you become what you hated most.

"The aggressive antisemitism of this post is unseemly from any decent person but is especially objectionable from someone serving on a commission whose sole purpose is to prevent hate crimes," the letter read. 

The commission was established by the General Assembly and signed into law by the governor in 2023 with the goal of developing strategies to prevent and respond to hate crimes and evaluate state laws and policies related to them.

More than 20 organizations make up the committee, including CAIR, which Chaudry works for. 

The commission’s inaugural meeting was held on Sept. 6, just a month before Hamas launched the surprise attack on Israel that heightened tensions around the world. 

In another statement released by the delegation calling for Chadury’s removal from the commission, they say she praised Hamas fighters and called those who attended the March for Israel in Washington, D.C., "genocide sympathizers," in another post and referred to reports of Israeli infants being beheaded by Hamas "fake babies." 

"The Commission must serve as a model for the entire State on how to respond to incidents of hate and bias," Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a statement. The Commission is facing its first test. How we respond has deep implications. I take this very seriously, and I will do everything possible to bring people together to move forward the critical work of this Commission."