New Yorkers Slam Mayor Mamdani for Giving 9/11 Ceremonial Pen to Lawyer Who Defended Al-Qaeda Terrorist

Outrage erupts as Mayor Zohran Mamdani hands symbolic signing pen to chief counsel Ramzi Kassem — who once represented a convicted al-Qaeda operative with family ties to a 9/11 hijacker. Families call it a "disrespectful" stunt ahead of the 25th anniversary.

NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing a firestorm of criticism after a 9/11 remembrance ceremony took an unexpected turn when he handed the ceremonial signing pen to his chief counsel — a lawyer who once represented a convicted al-Qaeda terrorist with links to the attack on the Pentagon .

The backlash erupted after Mamdani signed two executive orders on September 4, 2026, ahead of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks — one establishing a Citywide Day of Remembrance and Service, and another strengthening emergency preparedness against future terror threats .

After signing the final document, Mamdani handed the pen to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and whispered, "Can you pass this?" Tisch then awkwardly passed it to Ramzi Kassem, the mayor's chief counsel, who had slipped into the room moments earlier .

Who Is Ramzi Kassem?

Kassem, a law professor at City University of New York (CUNY), has a legal history that has drawn intense scrutiny. He previously represented Ahmed al-Darbi, a convicted al-Qaeda operative who pleaded guilty to war crimes connected to the 2002 bombing of a French oil tanker off the coast of Yemen — part of an al-Qaeda plot to attack the global oil trade after 9/11 .

Al-Darbi's sister was married to Khalid al-Mihdhar, one of the hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, killing 184 people .

Kassem also founded a legal clinic at CUNY that offers free representation to Muslims and represented Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of the pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University who was detained by ICE .

'It Was Calculated'

Retired detective and John Jay College of Criminal Justice adjunct professor Michael Alcazar called the gesture deliberate. "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," he told the New York Post .

Dennis Warchola, whose brother Michael — a firefighter with Ladder 5 — was killed in the North Tower, expressed fury. "How can you defend a guy like that who wants to do Americans or any innocent person harm?" 

Council Member Joann Ariola (R-Queens) called the move "breathtakingly tone-deaf and disrespectful" .

City Hall Defends the Move

The mayor's office defended Kassem's presence, noting that he and his team drafted both executive orders as part of his duties as chief counsel. "Chief Counsel Kassem attended the signing both to perform his official responsibilities and because he is personally invested in these executive orders as a longtime New Yorker who was in New York City on that terrifying day 25 years ago," said City Hall spokesman Sam Raskin .

But critics were unconvinced. Council Member Vicki Paladino (R-Queens) seethed: "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" .

Families Demand Mamdani Stay Away from Ground Zero

The pen ceremony has further inflamed tensions ahead of the official 25th anniversary commemoration at Ground Zero. A coalition of 9/11 family members gathered at City Hall on September 8, urging Mamdani to skip the event .

Giovanni Galante, whose wife Grace Galante was killed in the North Tower, told Newsmax: "All of us should be as pissed off as I am for him trying to even attend. I think it's disrespectful to attend somewhere you're not wanted" .

A Change.org petition launched by family members has gathered nearly 100,000 signatures, gaining support from former New York Gov. George Pataki and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani .

Mamdani Vows to Attend

Despite the backlash, Mamdani has made clear he intends to be at the Ground Zero ceremony on September 11. "I'm proud to be the mayor of this city. I love this city. I love this country. And what I want this week to be a focus on is on the families whose loved ones were stolen from them 25 years ago," Mamdani told reporters .

He will be the first Muslim mayor to attend the city's official 9/11 remembrance ceremony — a milestone that has been overshadowed by the controversy surrounding his administration's ties to figures associated with radical Islam .