Mamdani Faces 9/11 Backlash After Giving Ceremony Pen to Aide Linked to 184-Death Pentagon Case
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 6
Mamdani Faces 9/11 Backlash After Giving Ceremony Pen to Aide Linked to 184-Death Pentagon Case
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 6
Summary
9/11 families are urging NYC to bar Mayor Zohran Mamdani from September’s 25th-anniversary ceremony after he handed a ceremonial pen to chief counsel Ramzi Kassem at a remembrance event.
Kassem previously represented Ahmed al-Darbi, a Guantánamo detainee who pleaded guilty to war-crime charges in al Qaeda maritime plots and was the brother-in-law of Khalid al-Mihdhar, a hijacker on Flight 77.
Friday’s event was meant to mark Sept. 11 as a citywide day of remembrance and service and to strengthen anti-terror efforts, but the pen handoff drew social-media criticism as disrespectful to victims and first responders.
City Hall told the New York Post Kassem attended because his team drafted the two executive orders, while a petition organized by widower Giovanni Galante cites Mamdani’s public record and alleged minimization of the attacks.