A far-left University of Maryland research assistant is facing backlash after appearing to joke about bombing parts of Los Angeles and Miami to kill Cuban and Iranian Americans who support President Trump’s military strikes against Iran.
Djamil Lakhdar-Hamina made the incendiary remarks in a video that was streamed on YouTube on March 1 on a channel belonging to Cosmonaut Magazine, a socialist publication.
In the clip, Lakhdar-Hamina criticizes members of the Iranian diaspora who support US military action against the Iranian regime before launching into a shocking comment suggesting American cities with immigrant communities should be bombed.
“Seeing the Iranian diaspora just cheer on their country getting just bombed — there has to be an Olympic competition between the worst gusanos in the world on the podium, competing for gold,” Lakhdar-Hamina said in the video.
“You have the Cubans on the one side and the Iranians on the other, you know. Just bomb large swaths of LA and Miami. It’d be a better planet for it.”
The term “gusanos,” which translates to “worms” in Spanish, has historically been used as a slur by the Cuban communist regime to describe Cuban exiles and critics of Fidel Castro.
Los Angeles and Miami are home to large Iranian and Cuban American populations, many of whom fled authoritarian regimes in their home countries.
“I mean, just imagine being the kind of dog who cheers on your country getting bombed, thinking that somehow this is going to help your country at all,” Lakhdar-Hamina added.
A clip with the inflammatory comments was posted to X by Canary Mission, an organization that documents anti-semitism, among other things. Critics blasted the remarks as an apparent call for violence in two of the country’s largest cities, tagging the FBI and flagging the comments as “terrorism.”
The remarks come amid heightened political tensions over US military action against Iran, which has divided some diaspora communities between supporters of aggressive US policy toward the regime and critics who fear escalation.
“Just a member of the DSA encouraging terrorist attacks against Los Angeles,” Dick Lucas, a candidate running for California State Assembly, said on X. “I don’t care how good you think @nithyavraman is on policy, she is DSA, the party that hates America. I will never support her or any member of this organization.” Nithya Raman is a Los Angeles city council member who is running for LA mayor.
Former LA City Council candidate Sam Yebri posted this in response to the clip: “DSA members want to murder Iranian-Americans and Cuban-Americans who have lived through the socialism and fascism they advocate. That’s all you need to know about the violent hate group that calls itself ‘democratic socialists of America.’”
The comments also drew scrutiny because Lakhdar-Hamina is affiliated with the University of Maryland as a research assistant for the Joint Quantum Institute, prompting calls online for the university to respond.
The comments are consistent with Lakhdar-Hamina’s extremist declarations, who has previously identified as a long-time member of the Democratic Socialists of America. In a Sept. 1, 2025 video also posted by Cosmonaut Magazine, he said “the only existing effective vehicle of resistance against Zionist barbarism right now is Hamas. That’s a fact.”
The University of Maryland, the Joint Quantum Institute, and the DSA did not respond to requests for comment.
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