Rep. Elise Stefanik challenged Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday over the inclusion of Lumumba Bandele on Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition team, citing Bandele’s past support for individuals convicted of killing police officers in New York and New Jersey.
Mamdani selected Bandele to serve on the incoming administration’s Committee on Community Organizing, as reported [1] by The New York Post.
Stefanik, who is preparing for a potential run against Hochul in next year’s gubernatorial election, released a statement criticizing the appointment and calling on the governor to intervene.
“Kathy Hochul’s endorsed Mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, just picked a man who supports the killers of cops in New York and New Jersey to serve on his transition team,” she said in a statement to The Post.
Stefanik added, “Mamdani’s vision for New York is getting very clear, and it’s starting to look like a nightmare. Kathy Hochul must immediately call on Mamdani to fire Lumumba Bandele from his transition team.”
Bandele, currently associated with the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, has a documented history of publicly aligning with individuals linked to the Black Liberation Army.
According to Workers World, he attended a March 2018 rally advocating for the release of Herman Bell. Bell, along with two others, was convicted of luring two NYPD officers to a Harlem housing project in 1971 and fatally shooting them.
Bell was granted parole in 2018 after the parole board stated he had demonstrated reform and remorse.
Bandele has also spoken about meeting several times with Assata Shakur, who was serving a life sentence for the killing of a New Jersey state trooper before escaping from prison and fleeing to Cuba, where she received political asylum.
Shakur died in September. Bandele discussed their relationship in a video earlier this month and offered praise for Shakur, as well as Bell, in remarks delivered on Veterans Day 2024.
In those Veterans Day comments, Bandele referred to Shakur and Bell as among the “many soldiers that served valiantly in the people’s military to defend our communities.”
The statement appeared multiple times across his public messaging, emphasizing Shakur and Bell’s roles within movements he has spoken about supporting.
The questions surrounding Bandele’s past associations have prompted criticism from elected officials, with Stefanik pressing Hochul to use her influence as a supporter of Mamdani’s mayoral bid.
The governor has not issued a response to Stefanik’s challenge.
The decision by Mamdani to place Bandele on the Committee on Community Organizing marks one of the first major flashpoints surrounding his transition process. The mayor-elect has not withdrawn the appointment or commented publicly on the matter since the concerns were raised.
The debate over Bandele’s role comes as the 2026 statewide political landscape begins to take shape, with Stefanik positioning herself as a challenger to Hochul. Bandele has continued serving on grassroots and activist projects tied to his current organization while also appearing in public discussions reflecting on his connections to figures such as Shakur and Bell.