My 8/11/26 interview (embedded just below) with Scott Jennings and a transcript of the interview (below the video). We discussed my Real CLear Investigations essay, “Anatomy of the ‘Islamophobic’ Shooting That Wasn’t”
TRANSCRIPT
[Scott Jennings] “This is the Scott Jennings Show. And welcome back to the show. You know, one of the things we like to do here on the Scott Jennings Show is blow the lid off of fake media narratives. And I want to do that here as we round out our Tuesday show. Let me set the stage for you. November 2023. So this is right after October the 7th, and a Muslim man is shot outside of a mosque. The media begins reporting on it, and they say it’s a religious hate crime. They say it’s Islamophobia. As it turns out, none of that was true. My next guest is Islamic expert, Dr. Andrew Bostom. He’s authored six books on Islam, and he has released his findings after an 18-month investigation of this incident, which took place in Providence, Rhode Island. Dr. Bostom, welcome into the Scott Jennings Show. I’m going to stop there and let you pick up the ball. This is an incredible investigation. Tell us what you found. Thanks.”
[Andrew Bostom] “First of all, thanks very much for having me, Scott. So I was initially interested in this mosque because I gave a lecture in a suburb of Providence at the end of right about a week before Christmas in 2024. And I had given examples, unfortunate examples, of sermons preached across the United States, which had hateful content. And I was asked, had I ever listened to any of the sermons in Rhode Island? And I had to admit I hadn’t. And then, if you recall, there was that horrific vehicular jihadist attack on New Year’s Day in 2025. And that was a Wednesday. And I just decided, having been prompted, to listen to a local mosque after that attack. And it happened to be this particular mosque, which already by then, 14 months earlier where this incident had occurred. And I was shocked by what I heard. So the sermon, no condolence expressed about what had happened. And the imam launched right into very negative Qur’anic verses about non-Muslims in English, but then ended in Arabic with a call to fight the disbelievers and the infidels (polytheists), again, two days after New Orleans. And then it dawned on me, well, what had ever happened with that investigation of the so-called Islamophobic shooting? And I began to delve into the investigation and ultimately got the police report. And the police report was quite shocking, because they did have a prime suspect. And it was a Muslim name. And it turns out it’s the only suspect, you know, all these months later. And then I also, that was now a public record. And the victim had always been a public record. And I was shocked that the local investigations, the reporters, et cetera, had never looked into the victim’s background. He had a criminal background, was in prison for five years, commuted 20 years sentence for not only manufacturing, but distributing drugs. The only suspect was a tragic case of a recidivist criminal who’s still only 23 years old, has multiple drug and firearms arrests and larceny arrests. And none of this had been looked into by the local press.”
[Scott Jennings] “And so what your investigation uncovered pretty easily was that this was not a case of Islamophobia, although the media and the politicians certainly painted it that way. The Rhode Island House, in fact, featured this Islamophobic shooting in a resolution that it passed in February of 2024 condemning Islamophobia. The resolution said, it is believed that Mr. Ramos was a target based solely on his faith. This entire narrative, according to your work, was totally made up in service of this idea that Islamophobia instead of antisemitism is a problem in this country. But none of it was true. It’s incredible.”
[Andrew Bostom] “None of it was true. And really, Scott, as a private citizen, although I guess I have some respect as a physician, as an academic, I contacted all the media, all the politicians, like you mentioned, on that resolution, the mayor of Providence, just to say, look, the Muslim community should be reassured this was not an Islamophobic shooting. And oh, by the way, you really need to pay attention to the anti-Christian, antisemitic, pro-jihad sentiments being expressed routinely at this mosque and using this incident to give impunity from criticism. It’s very cynical and it’s very destructive to communal harmony. Nothing. And this evolved over the entire 18 months, just until this report was put out in Real Clear Investigations. And then even a follow up New York Post story on this story, which amplified and showed there were other phony Islamophobic incidents. And there’s still no response, Scott.
[Scott Jennings] “Well, what we’ve learned in America these days is that narrative and propaganda is more important than the facts. But what you’ve done with your investigation, which was printed at Real Clear Investigations, I encourage everyone to go read it, is that there was no Islamophobia here. You’ve proven it. This was a tragic case, but we have to be able to separate narratives from the truth, and that’s what you’ve done. Dr. Andrew Bostom is our guest. He’s got a piece up at Real Clear Investigations, ‘Anatomy of the ‘Islamophobic’ Shooting, That Wasn’t.’ I encourage you to read it. And that’s it for the Scott Jennings show today. Thanks for listening. We’ll be back with more tomorrow.”
Andrew Bostom
Andrew G. Bostom is the author of The Legacy of Jihad (Prometheus, 2005) and The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism " (Prometheus, November, 2008) You can contact Dr. Bostom at @andrewbostom.net
