Mamdani Does The UNFORGIVABLE Days Before 9/11

Hands signing a legal document at a desk — Photo: Amnaj Khetsamtip / Shutterstock

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed two 9/11 remembrance orders, then handed the ceremonial pen to a lawyer who once defended an al-Qaeda operative tied to the Pentagon hijacker.

Story Snapshot

Mayor Mamdani signed executive orders marking 9/11’s 25th anniversary at City Hall on September 5.
He passed the signing pen through Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to chief counsel Ramzi Kassem.
Kassem once represented Ahmed al-Darbi, a Guantanamo detainee whose sister married a 9/11 hijacker.
City Hall says Kassem’s office drafted both orders, explaining his presence at the ceremony.

What Happened At City Hall During The Signing

Mamdani signed two executive orders on September 5, 2026, ahead of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. One order creates an annual day of remembrance and service. The other strengthens emergency preparedness. After signing, Mamdani handed a pen to Commissioner Tisch and quietly asked her to pass it along.

Tisch handed the pen to Ramzi Kassem, Mamdani’s chief counsel, who had arrived late to the event. Reporters noted Kassem appeared to smirk as he took it. The moment, captured on camera, quickly spread online and became the flashpoint for a much larger argument about symbolism, judgment, and who belongs near a 9/11 ceremony.

Kassem’s legal history is not in dispute. He represented Ahmed al-Darbi, a Saudi national who pleaded guilty to terrorism-related war crimes for helping plan the 2002 bombing of the tanker MV Limburg. Al-Darbi’s sister was married to Khalid al-Mihdhar, one of the hijackers who crashed a plane into the Pentagon. Al-Darbi served his sentence and was transferred to Saudi Arabia in 2015.

Why Critics Say The Gesture Crossed A Line

For families who lost loved ones on 9/11, the pen handoff landed as a gut punch. Critics argue that placing a symbol of remembrance directly into the hands of a lawyer connected to al-Qaeda’s inner circle mocks the memory of nearly 3,000 Americans killed that day. The timing, days before the 25th anniversary, made the moment feel deliberate rather than accidental to many watching.

Commentators on cable news called the move tone-deaf, arguing a mayor’s staffing choices during a solemn ceremony carry weight beyond ordinary politics. Fox News contributor Paul Mauro said the optics alone should have prompted Mamdani’s team to keep Kassem out of camera range during the signing, given his documented client history.

City Hall’s Explanation And What It Leaves Unanswered

Mamdani’s office pushed back, telling reporters that Kassem and his legal team wrote both executive orders as part of his official duties as chief counsel. That explanation matches how City Hall normally operates: lawyers draft policy, the mayor signs it, and staff who worked on it often receive the pen as a keepsake.

Kassem has separately said publicly that every executive order Mamdani has signed, more than sixty of them, passed through his office first. That statement supports the idea that his presence at the signing reflected routine legal process rather than a symbolic statement about 9/11 itself.

Still, an administrative explanation for why Kassem attended does not fully answer why he, specifically, was chosen to receive the pen in front of cameras during a 9/11 remembrance. City Hall has not offered further detail on that specific choice, leaving room for both readings to coexist.

The Broader Pattern Behind The Backlash

Legal ethics rules have long held that a lawyer’s representation of an unpopular client does not equal endorsement of that client’s crimes. Every terrorism defendant in American history has had a right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment, and someone has to fill that role. That principle is sound and worth defending.

But principle only goes so far when the optics involve grieving 9/11 families watching a memorial ceremony turned into a viral controversy. Guilt by association can be a lazy argument, yet judgment about where and when to place a controversial aide in the frame is a legitimate question for any mayor to answer, not dismiss.

NEW YORK | MAMDANI FACES BACKLASH OVER 9/11 CEREMONY PEN HANDOFF

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing renewed criticism after a ceremonial pen used to sign his 9/11 executive orders was handed to his chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem.

Mamdani signed an executive order… pic.twitter.com/gBxnel4obk

— CSB News USA (@csbnewsus) September 8, 2026

Mamdani has said he still plans to attend New York City’s official 25th-anniversary ceremony despite the uproar. Retired police officers and some elected officials, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, have publicly criticized the mayor’s handling of the moment. Whether the pen handoff fades as a news cycle footnote or follows Mamdani into future 9/11 observances likely depends on how his office addresses the specific choice going forward.