Money Raised for Victims of Deadly Mass Shooting Went Instead to Somali Nonprofits

Here we go again.

While we were all focused on the rampant fraud taking place in Tim Walz's Minnesota, where $9 million or more of taxpayer money was funneled under the Democrat governor's watch to sham businesses run mainly by Somalis, another scandal was brewing in Maine, again involving Somalis. This time, it was money meant for victims of a 2023 mass shooting that went instead to Somali-linked non-profits.

The details are mind boggling.

DOJ Surges Additional U.S. Attorneys to Minnesota As They Wade Through Deluge of Fraud

If you'll recall, 18 people were killed and another 13 injured after Robert Card opened fired on two establishments in Lewiston, Maine, on the night of October 25, 2023. The community quickly rallied around the victims and the Maine Community Foundation set up the Lewiston-Auburn Area Response Fund to provide monetary assistance. The Maine Community Foundation said the fund was established “to help ensure survivors and victims know that 100% of all donations go to the victims/survivors of this tragic event.”

A year later, victims and their families discovered that nearly $2 million of the money meant for them was instead distributed to 29 different nonprofits "serving immigrant communities and one facing fraud allegations."

“They told us that night that 100 percent of the funds would go to the victims,” said Jennifer Zanca, a nurse who was shot twice during the attack and applied pressure to her own wound to avoid bleeding out. “And then I received the email, too, to say that.”

A subsequent investigation revealed that nine of the 29 organizations that received money from the fund served only immigrant communities, including Empowered Immigrant Women Unite, Generation Noor, New Mainers Public Health Initiative, the Somali Bantu Community Association, and Gateway Community Services. Seven of those nine have been confirmed to be connected to Somali-American nonprofits.

Millions of dollars were raised for the survivors and victims families of a 2023 shooting in Maine that left 18 dead & 13 wounded. Now, those families say a large chunk of that money went not to them, but to 29 nonprofits instead, 7 of them Somali-linked nonprofits pic.twitter.com/HCYQA38Wy9
— Rich McHugh (@RichMcHugh) January 8, 2026

Even worse, one of the nonprofits involved in the growing scandal serves as an arm of an LLC run by Somali-American Abdullahi Ali, who has been designated as a "person of interest" by the House Oversight Committee.

It seems like some heads are beginning to roll as a result of the scandal, with a local city council member, a Somali refugee, stepping down after it was revealed that he ran one of the nonprofits that received funds meant for the shooting victims.

A Somali refugee who had been elected to the city council in Maine stepped down after our investigation revealed his nonprofit received money raised for mass shooting victims, despite donors being told 100% of funds would go to survivors and families. Oh and he’s facing felony… pic.twitter.com/4UN185G7uK
— Rich McHugh (@RichMcHugh) January 9, 2026

A Somali refugee who had been elected to the city council in Maine stepped down after our investigation revealed his nonprofit received money raised for mass shooting victims, despite donors being told 100% of funds would go to survivors and families. Oh and he’s facing felony gun charges, and his ‘listed’ address is a condemned chicken restaurant.

We haven't heard the end of this story, so be sure to stick with RedState for all the latest.

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