A Somali-born refugee who was sworn in to the Lewiston, Maine, City Council this week abruptly resigned after a media investigation raised serious questions about how his nonprofit handled money meant for mass-shooting victims.
According to Western Journal, Iman Osman, who leads the Lewiston Auburn Youth Network, stepped down less than a day after NewsNation reported that nearly $2 million raised for those directly affected by the October 2023 Lewiston massacre was instead funneled to 29 nonprofit organizations.
The October attack left 18 people dead and many more wounded, yet a substantial share of the donations earmarked for victims allegedly bypassed them and went to outside groups, including seven nonprofits reportedly run by Somalis.
NewsNations reporting found that $1.9 million intended for victims was diverted to these nonprofits, with Osmans organization receiving $65,000 from the fund. The revelation has fueled growing public anger in a community still grieving and has intensified scrutiny of how politically connected activists and nonprofit operators handle charitable dollars raised in the wake of tragedy.
Family members of those killed say they were blindsided by the discovery that so much money never reached the people it was promised to help. Amy Sussman, whose nephew Max Hathaway was murdered in the shooting, said she personally dug into the numbers and learned that $1.9 million earmarked for victims instead went to the nonprofits.
To learn that 29 nonprofits receive money from that fund, I didnt understand that, she told NewsNation. Sussman condemned the fundraising structure in stark terms, saying, They raised money for nonprofits on the backs of 18 people who were murdered, 13 people who were shot, and 136 people who escaped their attempted murder.
They used that to raise money for nonprofits, she added, capturing the sense of betrayal felt by many in Lewiston. For conservatives who have long warned about the lack of accountability in the nonprofit sector, especially within identity-based advocacy networks, the case is a troubling example of how emotional crises can be exploited by well-positioned organizations.
Actual survivors of the attack also expressed shock at how the funds were handled, particularly given the assurances they say they were given at the outset. Jennifer Zanca, a nurse who was shot twice and later faced a $93,000 hospital bill, said she was led to believe that donors money would go directly to those harmed.
They told us that night that 100 percent of the funds would go to the victims, she recalled. Instead, she and others are now learning that a complex web of nonprofits, including Osmans, benefited while victims struggled with medical debt and long-term recovery costs.
Osmans attorney announced the resignation in a statement to NewsNation, attempting to portray his client as confident in his legal position despite the public backlash. Mr. Osman resigned from the Lewiston City Council this morning, the attorney said.
He is confident that he would have prevailed in the investigation, just as he did when these questions were raised to the city clerk before the election and to the School Committee, the lawyer asserted. Yet Osmans difficulties extend beyond the nonprofit controversy, as he also faces felony gun charges and had already been under investigation over his residency status in Lewiston.
City leadership, clearly eager to move past the scandal, endorsed his decision to step down. Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline issued a carefully worded statement praising the move, saying, On behalf of the City, I want to thank Councilor Osman for choosing to step aside.
This choice is in the best interest of the City as we have important work ahead of us, Sheline added. The episode unfolds against a broader backdrop of federal probes into alleged large-scale fraud in Somali communities in Minnesota and other states, where investigators say public child care and health care funds have been siphoned off without corresponding services.
Various investigations have pointed to signs of Somalis taking money from public child care and health care programs while not providing services.
For many Americans already concerned about lax oversight, mass migration, and the growth of taxpayer-funded and donor-funded bureaucracies, the Lewiston case reinforces longstanding conservative warnings: when government and charitable institutions prioritize politically favored groups and progressive narratives over transparency and accountability, the people most in needcrime victims, taxpayers, and law-abiding citizensare the ones left paying the price.
Login