More Tribune readers call out Dan Dow’s anti-Mamdani crusade | Opinion
Judge Crandall’s ‘moral clarity’
On behalf of the Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) and California Muslims, I want to thank Judge Charles Crandall for his principled commentary regarding San Luis Obispo District Attorney Dan Dow’s appalling and dangerous social media reposts regurgitating the tired stereotype that Muslims are inherently tied to terrorism because of their faith. As someone who has dedicated nearly 20 years to a career with the legal and ethical responsibility to uphold justice and the rule of law, Judge Crandall understands what District Attorney Dow seemed to fail to grasp: Public officials entrusted with prosecutorial power must be held to the highest standards of impartiality and fairness for all people — regardless of faith, background, or political views.
Judge Crandall’s words reflect the moral clarity and leadership our communities, and our country, desperately need at a time when bigotry, including Islamophobia and xenophobia, is rapidly increasing, fueled, in part, by the normalization of hateful and divisive rhetoric from those elected to positions of power. We echo his sentiment that respect, accountability, and responsibility are demonstrated through real action, not merely through words.
Hussam Ayloush
CAIR-LA Executive Director
A contradiction of American values
My name is Ryan Tamoush and I am a Marine Corps Afghanistan combat veteran who spent time in diplomatic service under the State Department as well. I have served alongside people of all ethnicities, cultures and religious backgrounds. I am writing to you in response to an article I read in the San Luis Obispo newspaper and to encourage further coverage of the shameful behavior of Dan Dow. A district attorney who claims to be a proud veteran of the country should not be engaging in Islamophobic perpetuation. His remarks do not align with the sanctity of what this country embodies and that he’s sworn to upkeep. I encourage that any time that he claims that he has served this country, that your editorial highlight how it is a contradiction to our American values.
Please relay to the public that Dan Dow should step down as district attorney and relinquish his ability to try anyone who is of Muslim faith and anyone who is suffering from the consequences of an oppressive government. His remarks are in line with an ideology that is in opposition to the Constitution and the checks and balances that keep people within our country safe.
Ryan Tamoush, SSgt., USMC (ret.)
Cayucos
Trib’s inconsistency
Dan Dow reposts an anti-Mamdani tweet and we have multiple opinion columns, including from a former judge, in The Tribune. An apology is demanded by CAIR, whose executive director, Nihad Awad, said he was “happy to see” Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack.
Who is CAIR to demand an apology from anyone? But you, at The Tribune, on the other hand are the paper of record of the county where Dow serves. Fair enough — if you had taken this responsibility consistently. When it was the Jewish community being attacked by the showing of a hateful propaganda video by our local Diversity Coalition, which receives public funding, at which showing even more vile versions of what Awad said were not retweeted, but said aloud, and the local Jewish Federation demanded an apology, all we got was an article bending over backwards to give the Diversity Coalition the benefit of the doubt and no statement from on high demanding any apology be given from the Editorial Board. Defending members of our local communities from hateful speech is righteous work, but when it is only done based on the politics of who is speaking, it is quite the opposite.
Jon-Erik Storm
Los Osos
Dan Dow’s ill-advised actions
I worked on a newspaper 28 years and then for state government for 13 years. In both roles, my work was more trustworthy if my political views were unknown.
The lead Tribune story published Nov. 9, 2025, was quite offensive to me. I read it to determine whether there was a reason Dow’s views on the New York mayor’s race were relevant to anything. I saw nothing to lead me to that conclusion.
I agree with The Tribune editorial that spreading his views calls his work and judgment into question. He should lead the prosecution of crime without fear or favor. Deciding in advance that all Muslims are enemies of the United States is inherently biased. And I wish The Tribune had placed that story elsewhere, perhaps low on a page deep inside. The prominence of that story is a signal, as well as failing to point readers to the editorial page.
DA Dow, without a reason your opinions on New York should matter, I can only conclude you are simply spreading racist tropes. You should consider the wisdom of having done so if you run for reelection in 2028.
Jennifer Madrid
Morro Bay
Prosecute the prosecutor
Many thanks to The Tribune’s editorial board for exposing the most recent Islamophobic, bigoted social media posts by our district attorney.
Dan Dow’s bigotry is reflected in his vicious prosecution of people of color in our community. For an elected official to not only post such vile material, but then defend it by attempting to persuade us that he is above the law is simply unconscionable. How can we trust him to be a fair prosecutor?
It’s clear that we cannot. It’s clear that all of the cases under his direction must be reviewed and reevaluated. Dow is more than an embarrassment to our community; he is an absolute danger to all of us. A liability like this is destroying our community as he continues to violate the rights of people he views as less worthy and unequal to him. How sad that San Luis Obispo County has labored for so long under this biased, racist elected official. It’s time to prosecute the prosecutor.
Vicki Tamoush
Cayucos
What does District Attorney’s Association think?
In August of this year, you reported the election of Dan Dow as president of the California District Attorneys Association. In light of his most recent, and I must add, highly repugnant, promulgation of racism, I was curious to ask the CDAA how its members perceive their president, what his actions and statements imply as to the culture of the CDAA and whether they mirror the overall stance of the members of their organization.
Strangely, when I visited the website last night to obtain contact information, I was met with the following message: “Access from your area has been temporarily limited for security reasons.” I was able to locate what I wanted by another method: 2495 Natomas Park Dr Ste 575 Sacramento, CA 95833 (916) 443-2017 general@cdaa.org Is anyone else as interested as I am?
Rebecca Adams
Cayucos
Dow cannot be trusted
The SLO County chief law enforcement officer, District Attorney Dan Dow, is a blatant religious bigot and cannot be trusted to serve without bias.
Right after Zohan Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City, he twice posted pictures of planes hitting the New York buildings on Sep. 11, 2021, implying that Mamdani, as Muslim, is like the perpetrators of that terrorist attack.
When asked by the SLO Tribune for an explanation, Dow said Mamdani “wants to trample on the values and freedoms that millions of Americans have fought and died for”. That’s a lie. We have fought for the free exercise and expression of religious belief for 249 years, as enshrined in the First Amendment to our Constitution.
Dow is actively stoking the paranoia and hatred instigated after the 9/11 attack and suffered by Muslim Americans ever since.
Are Muslims and people with Arabic names in SLO County expected to simply ignore this explicit prejudice when they encounter sheriff's deputies or report problems to them, when they’re suspected of being in league with the likes of Al-Qaeda?
David Broadwater
Atascadero
Dow’s posts: ‘embarrassing, to say the least’
As citizens, we enjoy the right to say whatever we please about election results. Generally, the press is disinterested.
It did show interest in District Attorney Dan Dow’s comments on New York City’s election, perhaps because he is a public official. I doubt that the citizens of New York City have much interest in the comments of a county official at the other end of the country. We, however, do have an interest in keeping our own public officials from embarrassing us for no apparent purpose whatsoever.
It’s unlikely there will be an apology forthcoming, but one does seem warranted. Unlikely that New York City cares one way or other. Still, it was embarrassing, to say the least.
Steve Belasco
San Luis Obispo
Thanks, Trib!
Thank you for promptly calling out Dan Dow’s foolish and disrespectful behavior. There is no reason for him to repost hate speech.
Claire Grether
Shell Beach
This story was originally published November 9, 2025 at 10:00 AM.