Mayor Zohran Mamdani handed a ceremonial pen from a 9/11 memorial order to his chief counsel, an ex-lawyer for an al-Qaeda terrorist, drawing sharp backlash from council members and 9/11 victims’ families who called the gesture an insult.
On Friday, Mayor Mamdani signed two executive orders in New York City’s City Hall: one to establish a Day of Remembrance for the September 11 attacks, and another focused on increasing security against future terror threats.
The ceremony was intended to honor the victims ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11. But the event took a controversial turn when, after signing the final document, Mamdani handed a ceremonial pen to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who then, at the mayor’s request, passed it to chief counsel Ramzi Kassem. Kassem, who arrived about 15 minutes late to the event, received the pen and exited the Blue Room soon after.
Kassem’s presence and the symbolic passing of the pen immediately drew criticism, given his background as a former legal representative for Ahmed al-Darbi, described in the reporting as an al-Qaeda operative convicted in the 2002 bombing of a French oil tanker in the Middle East. Al-Darbi was sent to Guantánamo Bay following his conviction. Kassem also previously defended Mahmoud Khalil, identified as a leader of a pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia who was detained by ICE.
The mayor’s office told The New York Post that Kassem was present because he and his team drafted both executive orders as part of his duties as chief counsel. But that explanation did little to quell the outrage from elected officials and families of those lost on 9/11.
Republican Council Member Joann Ariola, who represents Queens, condemned the gesture, saying, “It shows exactly where his loyalties truly lie.” Ariola argued that “the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 have every right to be outraged. On the 25th anniversary, City Hall should be honoring their sacrifice with dignity, not forcing those families to endure yet another insult.”
Fellow Queens Republican Council Member Vicki Paladino went further, questioning Kassem’s role in government and his participation in the event. She stated, “Ramzi Kassem said he was inspired by 9/11, not to join the fight against terrorism, but to defend the terrorists themselves. He doesn’t even belong in this country, much less in our government.” Paladino added, “His participation in anything related to 9/11 is an insult to every New Yorker who survived that day, and indeed all Americans. But I suspect that’s the point.”
Family members of victims were also angered. Dennis Warchola, whose brother Michael was a firefighter killed in the North Tower, called it “bulls***,” asking, “How can you defend a guy like that who wants to do Americans or any innocent person harm?”
Retired detective and John Jay College adjunct professor Michael Alcazar described the pen handoff as “calculated.” He told The Post, “It happened during a ceremony meant to be about the victims, and no one else. 9/11 families didn’t come to City Hall to watch Mamdani spotlight someone whose work intersects with the very ideology that took their loved ones.” Alcazar criticized how Commissioner Tisch “was reduced to a prop rather than acknowledging her role as the leader of the NYPD.”
On social media, former Democratic political consultant David Sivella questioned whether the move was intended as a signal to Mamdani’s “Muslim base,” posting on X, “Was it deliberate on your part to give your Muslim base a hint that this is all BS to pacify other New Yorkers?” There is no evidence provided in the reporting to support or expand on Sivella’s claim.
The mayor’s office maintained that Kassem’s involvement was procedural. They stated that he and his team were responsible for drafting the executive orders. Kassem, who is 48 and the founder of a City University of New York legal clinic offering free representation to Muslims, did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The event comes at a time when symbolic government gestures are under the microscope, as seen in recent scandals involving public officials, such as the controversy surrounding Kristi Noem’s family and a former DHS secretary, raising questions about the motivations behind high-profile political acts.
Several basic facts are still unclear: the exact date of the ceremony, the official titles or texts of the executive orders, and whether any 9/11 families were present at City Hall. The mayor’s office offered no further comment beyond its procedural explanation, and there has been no response from Kassem himself.
With public trust already stretched thin, City Hall’s decision to spotlight a former lawyer for terrorists at a 9/11 remembrance event has left many New Yorkers, and Americans, questioning whose side their leaders are on.
When leaders forget who they serve, they shouldn’t be surprised when the public refuses to forget what happened, or forgive the insult.