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the new york times
Summer Lee Condemns Democrats' Silence After Anti-Muslim Attacks on Tlaib, Hamawy
"The silence from Democrats when Muslim colleagues and candidates are attacked is a cancerous rot."
Jun 05, 2026
Congresswoman Summer Lee spoke at length Thursday evening about recent anti-Muslim attacks that have been launched by Republicans as well as the corporate media against two progressive political leaders—reserving much of her condemnation for Democratic lawmakers who have remained silent as Rep. Rashida Tlaib and US House candidate Adam Hamawy have been both directly and indirectly accused of "terrorism" in recent days.
"Democrats, we are way too quiet right now," said Lee (D-Pa.) in a three-minute video she posted on her official social media accounts. "This is a moral rot that we are dealing with, and I hope that we will not stand by and let this particular hatred grow and grow until it's out of our control."
Lee spoke up a day after Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) openly accused Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, of advocating "for terrorists on a daily basis" during a debate on a proposal she introduced to block US forces from taking part in Israel's invasion of Lebanon—a war powers resolution that ultimately failed to pass Thursday after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and more than 100 other Democrats joined the GOP in opposing it.
More than 3,500 Lebanese people have been killed and 1.2 million have been forcibly displaced since Israel began attacking Lebanon in March, in what it says is an effort to defeat Hezbollah. Israeli officials have said they are using the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) decimation of Gaza as a "model" in Lebanon.
While Tlaib advocated on the House floor for Lebanese civilians, Miller characterized Hezbollah as “butchers that you like to hang out with to a certain extent,” addressing the progressive congresswoman—prompting her to demand that Miller's comments be stricken from the record and accusing him of a "direct attack on my character."
Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), who volunteered to serve in the IDF in 2015, also said supporters of Tlaib's resolution were acting as "proxies for Hezbollah."
In her statement Thursday, Lee said, "Yesterday on the House floor, two different Republicans basically called my sister Rashida a terrorist for nothing more than being there, being Palestinian, being Muslim, being a woman."
She emphasized that the attacks on Tlaib followed similar remarks about congressional candidate Dr. Adam Hamawy, a retired US Army surgeon who volunteered to treat victims of Israel's assault on Gaza and saved the life of Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) after her helicopter was shot down in Iraq in 2004.
Before voters in New Jersey's 12th Congressional District went to the polls this week to vote in the primary the progressive Democrat won, opponents attacked him for his former association with Omar Abdel-Rahman, a cleric who was convicted of terrorism in 1995 and whom Hamawy said he met through the Egyptian-American community in New Jersey.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) said Hamawy was "not in line with our values," and The New York Times focused its subheadline on Abdel-Rahman in its report on Hamawy's primary victory, before editing the subhead.
"The anti-Muslim rhetoric is picking up," said Lee on Thursday. "And we don't often talk about how dangerous that is, and we also don't talk about how dangerous it is to our coalition. As the Democratic Party, we are supposed to be the ones that are the standard-setters, the ones who are fighting for justice and equal opportunity and liberation, and if we aren't able to speak up against this right now, then how can we continue to hold that particular mantle?"
"It's not just Republicans who are dealing in this," she added. "I've heard Democrats use and deal in some of the worst tropes and stereotypes of my Muslim colleagues."
Lee was applauded for speaking out about attacks that Democratic leaders had not directly addressed—and that Jeffries was accused of amplifying recently when he said he planned to speak to Hamawy about "his past affiliations."
"Incredibly brave stuff for Summer to explicitly name and condemn Democratic Islamophobia and do so on broad terms," said organizer and writer Cole Sandick. "I hope more elected progressives follow her lead."
Lee emphasized that "no marginalized person should have to deal with the abuse that they are dealing with daily from the White House on down, by themselves."
"So I just really hope that we can be as clear about anti-Muslim hate as we are about all the other forms of hatred that we're fighting back right now," she added, "and recognize that our liberation is tied together."
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'The Agents Were Lying': ICE Exposed Yet Again by Video of Minneapolis Shooting
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said "bare due diligence" would have exposed ICE officers' falsehoods.
Apr 06, 2026
Video footage obtained by The New York Times has exposed lies told by two federal immigration enforcement agents about the circumstances leading up to a non-fatal shooting in Minneapolis that occurred on January 14.
According to a Monday report from the Times, the video directly contradicts claims made by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials that they were attacked by assailants armed with a shovel and a broom for around three minutes before the agents opened fire and wounded one of the attackers.
"Instead, the confrontation depicted in the video lasts about 12 seconds and shows two men struggling with the agent," reported the Times. "It shows no sustained attack with a shovel."
Federal prosecutors had initially pursued assault charges against Venezuelan national Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who was shot in the leg by the ICE officers during the January confrontation, and fellow Venezuelan national Alfredo Aljorna.
However, the government abruptly dropped charges against the two men in February, and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons acknowledged that two federal officers appear “to have made untruthful statements” about the incident.
The Times noted that the government had access to the video of the shooting hours after it took place.
However, one source told the paper that prosecutors didn't watch the video until three weeks after they filed charges against Sosa-Celis and Aljorna, and instead relied on "the ICE agent’s statement and an FBI agent’s affidavit describing the footage."
This revelation prompted a rebuke from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who told the Times that "bare due diligence would have shown that the agents were lying."
Trump administration officials have come under fire in recent weeks for lying about shootings involving federal immigration officials, such as when former US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem falsely claimed that slain Minneapolis intensive care nurse Alex Pretti was aiming “to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement."
In reality, video footage showed Pretti never drew his handgun during his confrontation with federal immigration officers, while also clearly showing that officers disarmed him before they opened fire.
Noem also falsely claimed that slain ICE observer Renee Good had attempted "an act of domestic terrorism" by trying to run over a federal immigration officer with her car, even though footage clearly showed Good turning her vehicle away from the officer in an attempt to get away from the scene.
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'One Person Cannot Tear Our Movement Down,' Farmworkers Say of César Chávez Revelations
"The labor movement was organized not only to protect workers' paychecks and benefits, but also to ensure they are safe from any form of harassment, inappropriate conduct, or assault."
Mar 21, 2026
"Our collective power is what defines us and is our movement, and one person cannot tear our movement down," Alianza Nacional De Campesinas said in the wake of The New York Times reporting Wednesday on multiple sexual abuse allegations against late Mexican-American labor leader César Chávez.
"As a farmworker women's organization, many of us have experienced or witnessed the sexual abuse and silence women endure in many aspects of our lives," the group continued, adding that "we are deeply troubled and devastated" to learn about the reporting, and "we stand with Dolores Huerta, Ana Murguía, and Debra Rojas, who have bravely shared their painful stories."
Huerta, cofounded with Chávez a group that went on to become the labor union United Farm Workers (UFW). In her comments to the Times and a separate statement, the 95-year-old described two separate encounters with Chávez that led to pregnancies: "The first time I was manipulated and pressured into having sex with him... The second time I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped."
Murguía told the Times that Chávez molested her for four years, beginning when she was 13. Rojas said she was 12 when Chávez first groped her breasts in the same office where abused Murguía. When Rojas was 15, the newspaper reported, "he arranged to have her stay at a motel during a weekslong march through California, she said, and had sexual intercourse with her—rape, under state law, because she was not old enough to consent."
The reporting has sparked a wave of responses from labor groups, elected officials, and others who have expressed support for survivors and stressed, as Guardian US columnist Moira Donegan wrote Friday, that "the rightness of the movement for the dignity of workers, for the rights and respect of Latinos, and for a future in which there is more freedom and possibility for poor people... cannot be tarnished by Chávez's behavior."
UFW Foundation said this week that "as a women-led organization that exists to empower communities, the allegations about abusive behavior by César Chávez go against everything that we stand for."
Describing the alleged abuse as "shocking, indefensible and something we are taking seriously," the UFW Foundation also announced that it "has cancelled all César Chávez Day activities this month."
California lawmakers are planning to rename César Chávez Day, a state holiday celebrated on March 31, Farmworkers Day. Artists and officials have begun removing plaques, murals, and other memorials.
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations president Liz Shuler and secretary-treasurer Fred Redmond said Wednesday that in light of "these horrific, disturbing allegations," the AFL-CIO "will not participate or endorse any upcoming activities for César Chávez Day."
"The AFL-CIO will always stand in solidarity with farmworkers who have fought for and won critical rights over generations through collective action, resilience, and extraordinary determination—a history that cannot be erased by the horrific actions of one person." said the pair. "The labor movement was organized not only to protect workers' paychecks and benefits, but also to ensure they are safe from any form of harassment, inappropriate conduct, or assault. Our commitment to safety and justice for farmworkers, immigrant workers, and all in our workplaces will never waver."
Advocacy and labor leaders also emphasized the importance of ensuring movements are save for their members. GreenLatinos founding president and CEO Mark Magaña told the survivors that "we stand with you and take this opportunity to recommit to our work supporting the farmworker community who toil in dangerous conditions, including extended exposure to extreme heat and deadly pesticides, while women farmworkers also continue to suffer from disturbingly high rates of sexual assault."
"To our community, the movement for justice and dignity for farmworkers is much bigger than one person," Magaña continued. "At a time when our communities are under serious attack, GreenLatinos remains committed to that movement. ¡Sí, Se Puede!"
Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong: Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, said that "Dolores Huerta, Ana Murguía, and Debra Rojas are showing us what real courage looks like. For decades, they kept secret the sexual abuse they experienced because of the power César Chávez held and his legacy within the labor and civil rights movements."
"That kind of silence doesn't just come from one person, it comes from systems and people in power who make women feel like speaking out will cost too much or threaten the very movement they helped build," Simpson argued. "We stand with Dolores Huerta, Ana Murguía, Debra Rojas, and all survivors. We're committed to building movements where no one has to carry harm or abuse in silence just to keep the work going. Our movements are bigger than one person, they belong to the people who build and sustain them. We have a responsibility to protect each other so everyone can be safe within them. That means choosing people over power and legacy, and creating spaces where safety, care, accountability, and dignity are the foundation of the work."
The revelations about Chávez come as President Donald Trump's administration pursues its mass deportation agenda and amid a fight for justice for survivors of Trump's former friend, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Members in Congress continue to call out the US Department of Justice for the Epstein files it has withheld or heavily redacted.
US Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said that the reports on Chávez "are shocking and disappointing about a leader that I for many years had looked up to, like so many Latinos growing up in the US. But as I have said many times this year—no one, no matter how powerful, is above accountability, especially when it comes to abusing young women."
"The farmworkers' movement has always been bigger than any one man," declared Gallego, who represents the state where Chávez was born. "It belongs to the thousands of hardworking people who have spent decades on the front lines fighting for the dignity of agricultural workers. We have to keep that fight going, especially now, when our community is under constant attack."
Gallego also recognized "the incredible bravery of the women who came forward," as did Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), who asserted that "there must be zero tolerance for abuse, exploitation, and the silencing of victims, no matter who is involved."
"Confronting painful truths and ensuring accountability is essential to honoring the very values the greater farmworker movement stands for—values rooted in dignity and justice for all," added Padilla.
Democratic Women's Caucus Chair Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) said that "the farmworker and civil rights movement was built by countless people—especially women and families who sacrificed everything for a better future. That history is bigger than any one person. Honoring that legacy means facing painful truths and continuing the work for justice with honesty and humanity."
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus said that "while it's heartbreaking when leaders are exposed as flawed beyond absolution, a just society has a duty to hold abusers accountable without exception."
"A movement stands on its values, not the misconduct of an individual.The strength of a movement is defined by its constituency, by its achievements and, yes, by its willingness to hold its leaders accountable," the CHC said. "We will always support the farmworkers who feed this nation, enrich our culture, and elevate our values. We commend the UFW's courage in standing by its constituency."
"We stand committed to work toward renaming streets, post offices, vessels, and holidays that bear Chávez’s name to instead honor our community and the farmworkers whose struggle defined the movement," the caucus added, noting that this March 31, it will "recognize and honor farmworkers and their arduous, essential work, and reaffirm our unequivocal commitment to survivor."
The US National Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), by texting "START" to 88788, or through chat at thehotline.org. It offers 24/7, free, and confidential support. DomesticShelters.org has a list of global and national resources.
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