DFL state Sen. Aric Putnam took part in a St. Cloud Islamic convention featuring an imam whose 2017 prayer called for annihilating Jews, and the lawmaker has not explained the appearance.

Photos from the Islamic Center of St. Cloud’s 19th Annual Convention on Oct. 3 show Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Sen. Aric Putnam participating in a forum at the same gathering where Imam Ammar Shahin was promoted as a featured speaker, Alpha News reported.

Shahin, who leads the Islamic Center of Davis in California, posted images of himself addressing the crowd and thanked the St. Cloud center for its hospitality. The photos indicate Putnam and Shahin did not share the stage, yet both appeared at the one-day event built around the theme “And Through Good Character, Nations Are Built.”

Putnam represents the St. Cloud area and is running for reelection this November against Republican state Rep. Bernie Perryman. Democrats hold a one-seat majority in the Minnesota Senate. His office and campaign did not answer questions about the appearance.

Shahin’s 2017 prayer asked God to wipe out Jews

Eight years earlier, Shahin delivered a sermon at the Islamic Center of Davis that included a prayer later translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute and reported by Breitbart. The translated lines left little room for soft interpretation.

In the prayer, Shahin said:

"Oh Allah, support the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the rest of the Muslim lands. Oh Allah, liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the Jews. Oh Allah, destroy those who closed the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Oh Allah, show us the black day that You inflict upon them, and the wonders of Your ability. Oh Allah, count them one by one and annihilate them down to the very last one. Do not spare any of them."

The remarks came after the Israeli government placed metal detectors at entrances to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. The sermon was later removed from the Davis center’s YouTube page. Shahin apologized at a press conference.

Democratic California Rep. John Garamendi condemned the language at the time.

"Outrageous and unacceptable... hateful, anti-Semitic language has no place anywhere in America."

Convention hosts still billed Shahin as an esteemed guest

The Islamic Center of St. Cloud still listed Shahin among its “esteemed guests” for the Oct. 3 gathering. Before the event he posted an open invitation online.

"I invite everyone in St. Cloud and the surrounding communities to come and be part of this blessed gathering. Bring your families and friends, and let’s come together around the Qur’an, knowledge, good character, and our beloved community."

Putnam, first elected in 2020 and reelected in 2022 by almost five points, chose to take part in a forum at that same convention. No statement from the senator has addressed why he shared the event with a cleric whose recorded prayer called for the destruction of Jews down to the last one.

Voters in the St. Cloud area now face a clear choice in November. One candidate showed up at an event that platformed a man with that record. The other did not. Silence from Putnam’s office leaves the association standing on its own.

Elected officials pick their rooms and their company. When the company includes a cleric who once prayed for annihilation, constituents are entitled to an answer, and they still have not received one.