Mamdani Gives Ceremonial 9/11 Pen to Lawyer Who Defended Al-Qaeda Operative, Outraging Victims’ Families

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani ignited another bitter controversy Friday after a ceremonial pen connected to a 9/11 executive order was handed to his chief counsel, who previously represented an al-Qaeda operative.

The episode unfolded as families of 9/11 victims continued urging Mamdani to stay away from the 25th-anniversary ceremonies at the former World Trade Center site. Thousands have reportedly signed an online petition opposing the mayor’s attendance, according to CBS News.

Rather than demonstrating sensitivity toward those families, Mamdani’s City Hall created a new source of outrage. According to the New York Post, the symbolic pen used to sign the executive order ultimately went to Ramzi Kassem, Mamdani’s chief counsel and a former attorney for an al-Qaeda-linked detainee.

Republican Council Member Joann Ariola condemned the decision as “breathtakingly tone-deaf and disrespectful.”

“It shows exactly where his loyalties truly lie,” Ariola said.

“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,” she added.

The backlash quickly spread across social media, where one user argued that the gesture was far more serious than a political miscalculation.

“Handing the ceremonial pen from a 9/11 executive order to a lawyer who defended an Al-Qaeda terrorist isn’t just tone deaf it’s a direct insult to every family that bled on that dark day.”

“New York will never forget who our true enemies are.”

During the ceremony, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch handed the pen to Kassem, who reportedly entered briefly, accepted it and departed.

Kassem previously represented Ahmed al-Darbi, an al-Qaeda operative imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay following a terrorism conviction. Al-Darbi’s sister was married to Khalid al-Mihdhar, one of the terrorists who hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 and attacked the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

For relatives of those murdered that day, the choice struck a deeply personal nerve.

“How can you defend a guy like that who wants to do Americans or any innocent person harm?” asked Dennis Warchola, whose brother, Ladder 5 firefighter Michael Warchola, died in the North Tower.

Republican Council Member Vicki Paladino also denounced Kassem’s involvement in an event tied to the anniversary.

“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 said.

“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,” she added.

Former Democratic political consultant David Sivella openly questioned whether the gesture was intended to communicate one message publicly while signaling another to Mamdani’s political base.

“Was it deliberate on your part to give your Muslim base a hint that this is all [nonsense] to pacify other New Yorkers?” Sivella asked.

Mamdani has said he intends to attend Friday’s anniversary ceremony despite the petition from victims’ families.

Paul du Quenoy, president of the Palm Beach Freedom Institute, argued that the mayor’s presence would compound the disrespect already felt by many survivors and relatives of those killed.

“The real barbarism would be for Zohran Mamdani to showcase himself and his disgusting record on terrorism before the survivors and heroes of America’s greatest tragedy,” Quenoy wrote in a New York Post opinion piece.

“If he cannot find the wisdom to stay home or skip town, he should be banned from attending,” he added.

Nearly 25 years after radical Islamic terrorists murdered almost 3,000 people, New York’s leaders should be united in honoring the dead, supporting their families and defending the truth about the attack. Turning a solemn 9/11 observance into another ideological controversy demonstrates precisely why so many victims’ relatives believe City Hall has lost sight of whom the day is meant to honor.