Democrat New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill has come under fire for visiting a mosque in the town of Paterson for Ramadan services on Friday that has ties to terrorist activity.

Sherrill visited the Islamic Center of Passaic County, and was seen in photos meeting with Imam Mohammad Qatanani. Sherrill said after meeting with the Imam, “This is a community with the five pillars of Islam that is constantly looking to do good works. And that is something I think is lacking now in this country,” per the Washington Free Beacon. In her run for governor in 2025, Sherrill had positioned herself as a moderate Democrat.

During a 2017 rally in Times Square against the Trump administration’s plans to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Qatanani called for a “new intifada” against Israel. Qatanani said, “No peace process and negotiation without liberation in Palestine. We have to start a new intifada. Intifada, intifada,” per court documents.

Qatanani has been accused of having ties to Hamas. Department of Homeland Security court filings stated that Qatanani was arrested and convicted in 1993 for being a member of the Palestinian terror group Hamas. In numerous federal cases against Qatanani over the years, officials have accused Qatanani of failing to disclose the conviction on his 1999 visa application.

Qatanani has won several appeals related to attempts from federal officials to deport him, most recently in 2025, when a Third Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled 2-1 that the DHS did not have the authority to revoke Qatanani’s lawful permanent resident status.

Additionally, a co-founder of the center, Mohammad El-Mezain, was convicted in 2009 of sending money to Hamas through the Holy Land Foundation, the largest terror financing case in US history. Mohammed Al-Hanooti, who served as an imam at the center in the 1990s, allegedly raised over $6 million for Hamas.