LEWISTON, Maine (NewsNation) — A Lewiston City Council member in Maine resigned less than 24 hours after a NewsNation investigation revealed his nonprofit was among dozens that received money raised for mass shooting victims despite donors being told 100% of funds would go to survivors and families.
Iman Osman, a Somali refugee who heads the Lewiston Auburn Youth Network, stepped down from the council position he had just won this week. His organization received $65,000 from the fund established after the October 2023 shooting that killed 18 people.
Osman, who faces felony gun charges and was under investigation for his residency, according to the Maine Wire, did not give a reason for his resignation.
His attorney said in a statement to NewsNation that “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.”
Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline said in a statement: “On behalf of the City, I want to thank Councilor Osman for choosing to step aside. This choice is in the best interest of the City as we have important work ahead of us.”
NewsNation reported Wednesday that $1.9 million raised for shooting victims was distributed to 29 nonprofits instead, including nine immigrant-focused organizations and at least seven with Somali ties. Victims and family members said they were repeatedly promised all donations would go directly to them.
Jennifer Zanca, who was shot twice during the attack, said the revelation didn’t upset her until she faced a $93,000 hospital bill she couldn’t 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,” Zanca said.
Amy Sussman, whose nephew was killed in the shooting, has been investigating the fund’s distribution and said the nonprofits received twice as much as Zanca.
“They raised money for nonprofits on the backs of 18 people who were murdered, 13 people who were shot, and 136 people who escaped their attempted murder,” Sussman said. “They used that to raise money for nonprofits.”
Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage compared the situation to fraud scandals in Minnesota involving Somali-linked organizations.
“In Minnesota, they’re stealing from the taxpayers. In Maine, they’re stealing from the taxpayers and victims of a massacre,” LePage said.
Sussman said she has reached out to Maine Gov. Janet Mills 14 times but has received no response.
The shooting occurred Oct. 25, 2023, at a bowling alley in Lewiston, claiming victims ranging in age from 14 to 76.
Victim’s aunt discovers $1.9M went to nonprofits via charity newsletter
Sussman spent a year believing donors had given millions to help the victims of the shooting that killed her nephew.
Sussman’s nephew, Max Hathaway, 35, was a married father of two with a third child on the way when he was killed. He had just received his college diploma in the mail and went out to celebrate when he was shot dead. His daughter Anna was born six weeks after his death.
“I received a publication put out by the Maine Community Foundation called Maine Ties spring 2024,” Sussman said in an interview with NewsNation. “In that publication, they talk about the shooting and the fundraising that was done and the number of people who received money from the fund, and 29 nonprofits receiving money from the fund.
“I didn’t understand the nonprofit piece of that because I knew from my family that 100% of that money was going to the survivors and family members of those who were killed in that shooting.”
While donors were given three options on the website — donate to survivors and families, donate to nonprofits or split donations 50-50 — the shooting victims and their families were told 100% of the fund would go to them.
“My family told me, ‘Hey, listen, if you have friends who want to give, tell them to give to this fund, because 100% of it goes to the survivors and family members, and everyone will benefit from that,'” Sussman said.
The list of nonprofits that could receive donations was not provided to donors, and Sussman said she suspects donors “did not expect this list of nonprofits to be receiving that money.”
When Sussman contacted larger companies that donated, one told her, “We weren’t given an option to designate. The Maine Community Foundation told us they would split the money.”
“I couldn’t figure out how $1.9 million got in that nonprofit part of the fund,” she said.
Sussman is now advocating for legislation to prevent similar situations in the future and ensure shooting victims are protected.
“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,” Sussman said. “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.”