The Islamic Center of San Diego, where a deadly mass shooting Monday left three people dead, has previously drawn national attention over past ties to September 11 hijackers and inflammatory statements made by its current imam regarding Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.

Three people, including a security guard, were killed after two gunmen opened fire at the mosque. The suspected attackers were later discovered dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds inside a BMW. Authorities said the threat had been neutralized, though a motive has not yet been officially determined.

The mosque has long faced scrutiny because two of the September 11 hijackers, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, reportedly attended prayers there while living in San Diego. According to previous reports, the pair also found housing near the mosque through community advertisements while taking flight lessons in the area.

More recently, Imam Taha Hassane came under criticism for remarks made shortly after the October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel.

“This did not start last week or on October 7. This is the result of brutal Zionist occupation and genocide,” Hassane said in a social media video posted days after the attack.

“Resistance is justified when people are under occupation and don’t let them change that narrative.”

Members of Hassane’s family have also faced accusations over anti-Israel activism and inflammatory rhetoric.

According to Canary Mission, Selma Hassane has “promoted incitement, spread hatred of Israel, engaged in anti-Israel activism and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.”

Meanwhile, watchdog group StopAntisemitism accused Hassane’s wife, Lallia Allali, of sharing graphic imagery following the October 7 attacks, including a depiction of a Jewish star accompanied by the words “the devil is killing.”

The group also alleged that Allali was involved with the Palestinian Youth Movement, a radical anti-Zionist organization that openly advocates for the “liberation” of all land “from the river to the sea” and describes its movement as rooted in an Arab struggle for all of “Palestine,” with the newly formed state to be entirely Arab.

Residents living near the mosque told the New York Post that tensions between the Islamic Center and the surrounding community had escalated following the October 7 attacks, particularly involving a nearby Hebrew-language charter school.

One parent said disputes intensified after the school displayed hostage posters across the street from the mosque, prompting mosque officials to contact police over alleged vandalism concerns.

“Hassane was supposed to bridge all the communities, but quickly became a hostile figure,” local journalist and parent Stella Escobedo said.