The mass shooting Monday at the Islamic Center of San Diego that left three men dead has renewed scrutiny surrounding the mosque — which previously drew national attention over connections to two September 11 hijackers and, more recently, criticism surrounding its imam’s repeated comments portraying Hamas’s October 7 massacre and violence against Israel as justified acts of “resistance.”
Authorities are investigating the attack as a hate crime after two teenage suspects — identified as Caleb Liam Vazquez, 18, and Cain Lee Clark, 17 — allegedly opened fire at the mosque before later being found dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds in a nearby vehicle. Investigators said they recovered Nazi symbols, extremist writings and a manifesto espousing antisemitic and racial hatred, while officials said the pair appeared to harbor a broad neo-Nazi ideology.
As the investigation unfolded, renewed scrutiny also returned to the mosque’s history — from longstanding attention surrounding its ties to two September 11 hijackers to more recent controversies involving Imam Taha Hassane and members of his family over extreme anti-Israel rhetoric and radical pro-Palestinian activism.
The Islamic Center of San Diego originally drew national attention after it emerged that September 11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar had worshipped there while living in San Diego. The 9/11 Commission detailed allegations that members of the mosque community helped the pair obtain housing and other assistance after arriving in Southern California, while additional reporting later alleged associates connected to the mosque helped them obtain documentation, purchase a vehicle, and access funds.
The commission did not conclude that the mosque or its members knowingly participated in the plot. Separate reporting also alleged mosque members hosted a welcoming gathering for the pair after they arrived in San Diego in 2000.
More recently, Hassane — who has led the mosque since 2004 — drew criticism over sermons and social media posts delivered in the days following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 terrorist attack in Israel, in which roughly 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage in what has widely been described as the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
“This did not start last week or on October 7th,” Hassane said in a video posted to social media days after the attack. “This is the result of brutal Zionist occupation and genocide.”
Hassane later reiterated the message while promoting the sermon on Instagram, captioning the post: “Resistance is justified when people are under occupation and don’t let them change that narrative.”
Less than two weeks after the Hamas attack, Hassane continued defending what he described as “resistance,” arguing during an October 20 sermon that violence carried out in response to what he characterized as “occupation” should be viewed as justified.
“When people are occupied, then the resistance is justified,” Hassane said. “We cannot accuse somebody who is fighting for his life to be a terrorist. The terrorist is the one who started the occupation, not the one who is defending himself.”
Hassane’s comments were not confined to the immediate aftermath of October 7. Subsequent social media posts and public activism continued drawing scrutiny over his rhetoric surrounding Israel and his support for radical anti-Israel causes.
In January 2024, Hassane accused Israel of practicing “apartheid.” Weeks later, he posted: “Zionism is Islamophobia!” In May 2024, he publicly supported anti-Israel encampments at the University of California, San Diego, appearing alongside demonstrators and urging the university to “boycott and divest from Israel.”
Hassane’s family also faced scrutiny over anti-Israel activism and inflammatory rhetoric.
According to watchdog group Canary Mission, his daughter, Selma Hassane, “promoted incitement, spread hatred of Israel, engaged in anti-Israel activism and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.” The group documented years of activism, including support for the radical campus group Students for Justice in Palestine and activity promoting anti-Israel demonstrations and pro-Palestinian organizing efforts.
Meanwhile, Hassane’s wife, Lallia Allali, drew significant backlash weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks after reposting an image depicting a Star of David decapitating five babies alongside the words: “The devil is killing.”
The controversy carried substantial professional consequences. At the time, Allali served as an emeritus member of the San Diego Union-Tribune Community Advisory Board, contributed columns focused largely on religious understanding and “Islamophobia,” and was affiliated with the University of San Diego, where she taught and authored academic work centered on combating anti-Muslim prejudice.
The Union-Tribune later described the post as “a graphic and deplorable antisemitic image,” writing that after confirming the repost, “we accepted her resignation and removed her from the list of board members and contributors on our website.”
The University of San Diego similarly announced that Allali had stepped away from teaching, stating: “While individuals have the right to express their views on their personal accounts, they do not reflect the views of USD leadership nor any official position of the university.”
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean and global social action director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, sharply condemned the post at the time, calling it a modern “blood libel” and describing the imagery as “despicable and deplorable.”
Residents living near the mosque also told the New York Post that tensions with the surrounding community intensified following the October 7 attacks, particularly involving a nearby Hebrew-language charter school.
“Hassane was supposed to bridge all the communities, but quickly became a hostile figure,” local journalist and parent Stella Escobedo told the outlet.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.