Hamas Rally Fallout Engulfs NY Race

A New York congressional candidate backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani attended a rally the day after the Hamas massacre, claimed the U.S. is worse than Hamas, and deleted a trail of radical social media posts — yet she’s now running for Congress with endorsements from Bernie Sanders and the Democratic Socialists of America.

Story Highlights

Darializa Avila Chevalier attended an October 8, 2023 rally that critics say celebrated Hamas’s attack on Israel — just one day after the massacre.
CNN investigators uncovered deleted tweets where she supported abolishing police, prisons, and borders, and questioned Israel’s right to exist.
She initially refused to condemn Hamas’s October 7 attack at a public forum, only doing so later in a radio interview.
Mayor Mamdani, Bernie Sanders, and far-left internet personality Hasan Piker have all backed her congressional run in New York’s 13th District.

The Rally That Started the Firestorm

On October 8, 2023 — just one day after Hamas murdered roughly 1,200 Israelis in the deadliest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust — Darializa Avila Chevalier showed up at a pro-Palestinian rally in New York City. The event was organized by leftist groups including The People’s Forum and Al-Awda New York. Signs at the rally read “Resistance is Justified when People are Occupied.” Political leaders publicly said the rally “condoned Hamas violence the previous day.” ^[2]

Chevalier defended her attendance by saying she has been “advocating for the human rights of Palestinians” her whole adult life and that she feared “a really outsized reaction that costs thousands of people their lives.” ^[2] Critics point out that this defense does not explain why she chose to attend an event that multiple reports describe as one that “feted Israeli deaths” — hours after one of the worst terrorist attacks in modern history.

Deleted Posts and a Pattern of Radical Views

CNN’s investigative unit uncovered deleted tweets and retweets that Chevalier scrubbed from her social media accounts. The posts included support for abolishing police, prisons, and borders. She also questioned Israel’s right to exist and attacked fellow Democrats. ^[4] These weren’t youthful mistakes from decades ago — they reflect a documented pattern of views that most Americans, including many Democrats, would find extreme.

Reports also revealed she campaigned at a mosque led by a sheikh who publicly praised the October 7 Hamas attacks. ^[5] When asked directly at a public forum in March whether she condemned Hamas’s October 7 attack, she declined to answer. Only later, in a radio interview on WNYC, did she say “yes, I do condemn Hamas” — while quickly adding that the U.S. funds the Israeli military. ^[1] For many voters, that kind of hesitation speaks louder than any carefully worded follow-up.

Who Is Backing Her — and Why It Matters

Chevalier is running for Congress in New York’s 13th Congressional District, challenging five-term Democratic incumbent Adriano Espaillat. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has endorsed her and is actively campaigning by her side. ^[1] Senator Bernie Sanders has also announced his support. Far-left internet streamer Hasan Piker introduced her at a New York City Democratic Socialists of America rally in Brooklyn. ^[7]

The Mayor’s next stop: a rally in East Harlem for Darializa Avila Chevalier, running for Congress in NY-13 against five-term incumbent Adriano Espaillat.

“No one can fight for the Affordability Agenda alone,” Mamdani says. https://t.co/Gzqnm1EIWY pic.twitter.com/32SF0VVwOw

— Michael Lange (@MichaelLangeNYC) June 13, 2026

Mamdani has tried to defend his endorsement by saying her views have “evolved.” ^[5] But voters deserve to ask: evolved how, exactly? She deleted the posts rather than address them. She stalled on condemning Hamas before cameras. The people standing behind her — Mamdani, Sanders, and Piker — represent a hard-left movement that has consistently put ideology ahead of the safety and security of American allies. New Yorkers in the 13th District should take a hard look at what this candidate actually believes before pulling the lever.