Mamdani in hot seat over post mourning death of inmate charged with callous crime: 'Absolutely shameful'
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing strong pushback from critics after posting his condolences for the death of a jail inmate charged in the killing of an autistic man during an ambush.
"A person in City custody died yesterday evening following a court appearance in Queens," Mamdani posted on X on Thursday. "Department of Correction staff performed CPR until emergency medical services arrived to take him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. I extend my condolences to his family. In line with standard practice, the DOC and its oversight partners will investigate the circumstances of his death."
The vast majority of social media users who replied to the post took issue with Mamdani not providing more details about the alleged crime. The individual who died was Luis Alberto Lopez Castillo, who faced charges of murder, manslaughter and robbery related to the 2025 murder of 26-year-old Ron Marte, a man with special needs, the New York Post reported.
Prosecutors allege Castillo and his accomplice Axel Martinez ambushed Marte in the Bronx’s Starlight Park as he walked home from work, with Martinez shooting him in the chest while Castillo took his cellphone.
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Mamdani’s critics highlighted the post as an example of the mayor showing more concern for suspected criminals than victims.
"Again!" FOX Business anchor David Asman posted on X. "I thought somewhere in the beginning of ‘An Idiot’s Guide to Being Mayor’ here’s a suggestion: ‘Display sympathy for the victims; Not the criminals.’"
"Didn’t he murder a 26 year old special needs man?" Jewish advocacy group StopAntisemitism posted on X.
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"The guy Mamdani is mourning here was charged with robbing and murdering a 26 year old with special needs," Benny Polatseck, a former digital producer for former NYC Mayor Eric Adams posted on X. "Did you see any tweets from him mourning his helpless victim?"
"Absolutely shameful…," conservative influencer account Proud Elephant posted on X. "Just when you thought Mamdani couldn’t go any lower. Mamdani should do the right thing and resign from office in disgrace."
Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment.
Mamdani has faced similar criticism before, including in August when he mourned the death of a man with 27 prior arrests who died in Rikers Island jail while facing charges for murdering a man with a meat cleaver in a Brooklyn laundromat.
Mamdani has been outspoken about his efforts to improve safety and living conditions across the jail system and has made several moves he says will accomplish that, including ending 12-hour shifts for correctional staff, addressing the practice of housing people of different ages together, moving to close Rikers Island, and strengthening oversight under the federal Nunez monitoring agreement.
His administration has begun transferring unused Rikers facilities out of the Department of Correction’s control and opened a 104-bed therapeutic housing unit at Bellevue Hospital to provide incarcerated people with specialized medical care.
New York City has been legally committed since 2019 to closing Rikers and replacing it with four smaller borough-based jails, a plan Mamdani has pledged to accelerate. Critics argue the move would leave the city with fewer jail cells and make it more difficult to tackle crime.
Fox News Digital's Robert Schmad contributed to this report