On Tuesday, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik took issue with Governor Kathy Hochul regarding a member of Mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani’s transition team who has shown support for a notorious cop killer.
Lumumba Bandele, a known figure associated with Black supremacist ideologies, was appointed to Mamdani’s community organizing committee on Monday, despite his connections to Black Liberation Army members who were convicted of killing police officers in the region.
Stefanik, a Republican aiming to challenge Hochul in the upcoming general election, quickly criticized this appointment and urged Governor Hochul to insist that Mamdani disband Bandele’s involvement.
“Mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani, backed by Kathy Hochul, has just selected a transition team member who endorses police killings in New York and New Jersey,” she stated in a message to the publication.
“Mr. Mamdani’s vision for New York is becoming increasingly alarming. Kathy Hochul must act immediately to have Lumumba Bandele removed from this team.”
Bandele, who is part of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, previously participated in a rally advocating for Herman Bell’s release in March 2018. In 1971, Bell, along with two others, killed two NYPD officers in a housing project in Harlem.
Bell was eventually released in 2018 after the Parole Board determined he had changed and expressed remorse for his past actions.
Bandele has also mentioned having met with Assata Shakur, who escaped from prison while serving a life sentence for killing a New Jersey police officer and subsequently sought asylum in Cuba.
He expressed admiration for both Shakur and Bell, stating that they were among the “soldiers who bravely served in the People’s Army to protect our communities.” This acknowledgment came during a ceremony on Veterans Day 2024.
Neither Mamdani’s transition office nor Hochul’s administration responded immediately to requests for comments.
Bandele also did not reply to inquiries right away.
He is one of over 400 community members involved in 17 transition committees ahead of Mamdani’s inauguration in January.
