Maryland AG reinstates hate crime task force member who claimed Israeli babies murdered by Hamas were 'fake'
A suspended member of a Maryland hate crime task force has been reinstated by the state's Democrat attorney general despite her past expressed antisemitism.
Democrat Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown on Tuesday reinstated a member of his state's hate crime task force who posted numerous antisemitic social media posts, including a claim that the babies murdered in the brutal Oct. 7 Hamas attack were "fake."
Zainab Chaudry, an anti-Israel activist who serves as the director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' (CAIR) Maryland office, was suspended from the Maryland Commission on Hate Crimes Response and Prevention on Nov. 21 after her posts surfaced.
"Upon further review, it was determined that the law establishing the Commission directs the Attorney General to appoint members to a 4-year fixed term but does not provide the Attorney General the authority to remove a Commissioner before the expiration of their term nor the authority to suspend a Commissioner during their term of service," Brown wrote in a press release.
He wrote that the law creating the commission was "silent on the question of removal and suspension of members," and that the authority for him to remove a member could only "be granted by statute, enacted by the General Assembly and Governor."
"Prior to the Commission’s next meeting on December 13, the Attorney General will distribute draft operating guidelines to members which include personal communications and how to balance the members’ right to freedom of speech and their roles as Commissioners for their review and feedback," Brown added.
Chaudry made the posts in the weeks following Hamas' attack, which saw more than 1,200 people killed, including children and babies, as well as numerous rapes and destruction of property.
In a Facebook post dated Oct. 26, Chaudry wrote, "I will never be able to understand how the world summoned up rage for 40 fake Israeli babies while completely turning a blind eye to 3,000 real Palestinian babies."
In an Oct. 17 post, Chaudry wrote, "[T]hat moment when you become what you hated most," and included two photos of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, one showing it lit up with the Israeli flag in solidarity with Israel following the attack, and another from a ceremony in 1936 when it was decorated with the flag of Nazi Germany during the Olympics that year.
In another post from Nov. 6, Chaudry appeared to suggest the mere existence of Israel as a nation was the cause of the ongoing war, writing it was an "inconvenient fact." She included an image of the words "it all started in 1948," the year Israel was founded as a nation.
Others from the weeks following the attack showed Chaudry sharing a quote celebrating "martyred Palestinians," and a post citing what appeared to be an Islamic prophesy that said "garrisons who defend the lands of Islam will be in Ashkelon," an Israeli city north of the Gaza Strip.
When reached for comment after her posts first surfaced, Chaudry told Fox News Digital that the "Nazi post" was originally shared "by a close Jewish friend," before going on to accuse the Israeli government of wanting to commit genocide against Palestinians. She also said she condemned the killing of Israeli and Palestinian civilians.
