Somali refugee resigns from Maine city council after his nonprofit took $65,000 meant for mass shooting victims

A Somali refugee has stepped down from Lewiston, Maine’s City Council just days after being sworn into the seat, after reports revealed that his nonprofit received tens of thousands of dollars from the fund set up to assist people affected by the October 2023 mass shooting in the central Maine city that killed 18. It has also been revealed that the refugee has been charged with a felony.

Iman Osman resigned from the Lewiston City Council after it was revealed by NewsNation that his organization, the Lewiston Auburn Youth Network, received $65,000 from the fund established after the shooting. Overall, $1.9 million of the funds raised, or around one third, went to 29 nonprofits instead of the victims, including nine immigrant-focused groups and at least seven that had Somali ties.

Victims and family members have said that they had been repeatedly promised that 100 percent of the donations raised in the wake of the shooting would go directly to them.

Jennifer Zanca, a survivor who had been shot twice in the attack, said she wasn’t upset by the revelation until she was faced with a $93,000 hospital bill she could not cover. "It didn’t really hit me and really upset me until I was in a position with a $93,000 hospital bill that I couldn’t cover," she said.

Amy Sussman, whose nephew was killed in the shooting, said, "The survivors and family members were told that 100% of that fund was going to them. Meanwhile, money was being raised within that fund for nonprofits. They did not know that. They did not know about that part of the fund, most of them, until I told them a year later."

As reports drew attention to his nonprofit receiving funds meant for victims of the shooting, it was also revealed that Osman is under investigation for residency. Per the Maine Wire, Osman had listed 210 Blake Street as his residence, which is a building that was condemned in the wake of a federal raid that took place in October of 2024. A NewsNation reporter visited the address, noting that it was a "condemned chicken restaurant."

Sources told the Maine Wire that Osman had been staying at the property at the time of the raid. Osman has not publicly clarified where he currently lives. The Lewiston City Council had voted 6-1 to hire an independent investigator to look into Osman’s residency and determine whether he was qualified to serve in the days leading up to his resignation.

The same week of his resignation, Osman pleaded not guilty in Lewiston District Court to one count of receiving stolen property and one count of theft by unauthorized taking of a gun. He was released on personal recognizance and is scheduled to next appear in court on March 9.

Osman’s attorney told NewsNation, "Mr. Osman resigned from the Lewiston City Council this morning. 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."