A George Soros-backed District Attorney sparked backlash after blaming the mass shooting at Virginia’s Old Dominion University (ODU) on firearms advocates.
Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi told a press conference that the attack, in which two people, including the gunman, died and two more were injured, was the fault of the ‘pro-gun lobby.’
‘This is not an ODU problem. This is a national sickness,’ he said.
‘We live in a country where people care more about guns than they care about six-year-old children.
‘They care more about guns than they care about synagogue worshipers,’ he added, apparently referencing yesterday’s shooting at Temple Israel in Michigan. ‘And they care more about guns than they do about college students.’
The prosecutor pointed at the police officers who joined him at the press conference, saying that it didn’t matter ‘how hard’ they worked to stop tragedies like Thursday.
‘Somebody will be a victim eventually,’ he said.
Despite his remarks drawing outrage among conservatives on social media, Fatehi doubled down when confronted by Fox News.
The George Soros-backed District Attorney in Norfolk, Virginia Ramin Fatehi sparked backlash after blaming the mass shooting at Old Dominion University (ODU) on pro-gun advocates
The shooter in Thursday’s attack was identified as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, a former National Guardsman who was convicted for supporting ISIS in 2015
‘I absolutely stand by what I said. It is the truth, no matter how much the gun lobby wants to deny it,’ he said.
The shooter in Thursday’s attack in Virginia was identified as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, a former National Guardsman who was convicted for supporting ISIS in 2015.
Jalloh, a US citizen originally from Sierra Leone, was released from prison in 2024 during the Biden administration after being caught attempting to hand information to ISIS and ISIL.
But Faheti dismissed Jalloh’s past as he reiterated his view.
‘No matter the ideology of an attacker, that attacker is more dangerous with a gun than without one,’ the left-wing prosecutor said.
Faheti – whose top two donors include the Soros-subsidized Justice and Public Safety PAC and Democracy PAC – called for a political reckoning to rid the nation of guns.
‘Until there is the political will to break the spell of the cult of gun absolutism, you will see more incidents like this,’ he said.
‘So, if you are looking for somebody to blame, don’t look at anybody up here, look at our lawmakers who don’t have the courage to implement sensible gun control measures, look to a Supreme Court that enables them, and do something about it.
‘That is the lesson – let’s mourn the people who’ve died, let’s decry what has happened, but let’s keep the focus where it belongs. It belongs on us, and having to change something so that we don’t have to suffer through this.’
Faheti’s top two donors include the Soros-subsidized Justice and Public Safety PAC and Democracy PAC, which donated over $650,000 to his campaigns between 2021 and 2025
Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, a veteran Army helicopter pilot, was killed in the ODU shooting
According to a Fox News review, the two Soros-funded PAC’s that support Fatehi donated over $650,000 to his campaigns between 2021 and 2025.
It comes as officials said Jalloh was released from prison two years ago after serving nine years of an 11-year sentence for attempting to hand information to ISIS.
Old Dominion University Police Chief Garrett Shelton said officers responded after receiving reports that people were being shot in one of the classrooms, but the gunman was actually subdued and killed by Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) students.
The ROTC is a college-based military training program for recruiting students into the US armed forces.
The victim who lost his life in the attack was named as Lt Col Brandon Shah, a veteran Army helicopter pilot.
Shah attended ODU as an ROTC student, according to his biography on the university’s website, and had returned in 2022 as a leader for the program.
In the Army, Shah had flown helicopters over Iraq, Afghanistan and Eastern Europe as a pilot.
The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps students showed ‘extreme bravery and courage’ and prevented further loss of life by stopping the suspect, identified as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, FBI spokesperson Dominique Evans said.
ROTC students at Old Dominion University subdued and killed the National Guardsman turned ISIS terrorist who shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ before he killed one and wounded two at the school. Pictured: Bystanders are evacuated from ODU
The ROTC students subdued him and ‘rendered him no longer alive,’ Evans added. ‘I don’t know how else to say it.’
The shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a social media post, which praised the heroism of the students.
The Daily Mail has contacted Fatehi’s office for comment.
