A University of Maryland graduate student who identifies with the Democratic Socialists of America is under fire after urging mass violence against Cuban and Iranian American communities in a video that circulated online this week. The remarks singled out Los Angeles and Miami as targets, triggering sharp backlash and calls for authorities to review the recording.
The clip, streamed March 1 in a video posted on Cosmonaut Magazine's YouTube channel, shows Djamil Lakhdar-Hamina making the comments during a panel discussion. The excerpts were later highlighted in reporting by the New York Post, which first drew broader attention to the clip online.
The University of Maryland lists Lakhdar-Hamina as a graduate student in its Department of Physics, according to the department directory. He is also a co-author on technical work connected to the university's quantum research. His academic publications are indexed on arXiv and CatalyzeX, and his profile appears on the UMD Physics site.
What he said
In the March 1 discussion, Lakhdar-Hamina can be heard claiming that the Iranian diaspora “cheer on their country getting just bombed” and referring to Cuban exiles with the Spanish slur "gusanos." He then says, "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," language that is clearly audible in the recording.
Those portions of the panel were clipped and reposted by archival sites and watchdog accounts, helping the comments spread far beyond the original livestream. The full panel video remains available on the Cosmonaut channel, and the controversial lines live on in multiple archived versions.
Reaction and reporting
Users and commentators on X and other platforms condemned the remarks, and some people publicly flagged the clip to federal authorities, according to early coverage. The New York Post cites posts calling out Lakhdar-Hamina's Democratic Socialists of America ties; one commenter quoted in that coverage wrote that “DSA members want to murder Iranian-Americans and Cuban-Americans.”
Past remarks and context
Advocates for wider circulation of the video point to earlier comments by Lakhdar-Hamina. In a September 1, 2025 panel recording he appears on, he was quoted praising Hamas as “the only existing effective vehicle of resistance” against what he described as "Zionist barbarism," lines that watchdog archives have preserved. Critics have leaned on those older clips to frame the March comments as part of a broader pattern of inflammatory rhetoric.
Legal and institutional questions
Whether the March remarks cross the line into criminal conduct is a question for investigators. Under long-standing Supreme Court precedent, including the Brandenburg test, U.S. courts distinguish protected advocacy from unprotected incitement by asking whether speech is directed to, and likely to produce, imminent lawless action.
Law enforcement guidance encourages people to report threats and suspicious activity online, even when it is not clear whether they meet that standard. The FBI maintains an online tip portal for that purpose.
The UMD physics directory continues to list Lakhdar-Hamina as a graduate student, and it was not immediately clear what, if any, disciplinary steps university officials or other organizations might pursue. This article will be updated if officials respond or if new information becomes available.
