Mamdani sparks outrage with 9/11-themed gift to Al Qaeda terrorist’s former attorney

Mayor Zohran Mamdani draws outrage with symbolic gift to aide who defended an Al Qaeda terrorist.

By World Israel News Staff

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing criticism after handing a ceremonial pen used to sign executive orders commemorating the September 11 attacks to his chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem, a longtime national-security lawyer who represented a convicted Al Qaeda member at Guantanamo Bay.

The exchange occurred Friday at City Hall, one week before the 25th anniversary of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, including hundreds of New York City firefighters and police officers.

Mamdani had gathered senior administration and emergency officials to sign two executive orders: one formally designating September 11 as an annual citywide Day of Remembrance and Service and another updating New York City’s emergency continuity and preparedness procedures.

After signing the documents, Mamdani handed the pen to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and quietly asked, “Can you pass this?”

Tisch then passed the pen to Kassem, who had entered the Blue Room toward the end of the event.

The gesture quickly drew criticism because of Kassem’s past representation of Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi, a Saudi national and admitted Al Qaeda terrorist who pleaded guilty before a US military commission to charges stemming from the 2002 bombing of the French oil tanker MV Limburg off Yemen.

Al-Darbi admitted involvement in an Al Qaeda plot targeting commercial shipping. The bombing killed one crew member, wounded 12 others and caused extensive damage to the tanker.

He was also related by marriage to Khalid al-Mihdhar, one of the five hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 77, which was flown into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Al-Darbi’s sister was married to al-Mihdhar.

Kassem began representing al-Darbi in 2008 and served as his civilian defense counsel. During al-Darbi’s 2017 sentencing proceedings, Kassem acknowledged that his client had pleaded guilty and accepted responsibility while arguing for the sentence provided under his plea agreement.

The Department of Defense transferred al-Darbi from Guantanamo Bay to Saudi Arabia in 2018 to serve the remainder of his 13-year sentence.

Kassem’s legal representation of al-Darbi did not imply support for Al Qaeda or his client’s crimes; defense attorneys routinely represent defendants accused or convicted of serious offenses. But critics said choosing Kassem to receive a symbolic object from a 9/11 commemoration displayed striking insensitivity given the occasion.

Dennis Warchola, whose firefighter brother Michael was killed in the North Tower, reacted angrily.

“How can you defend a guy like that who wants to do Americans or any innocent person harm?” he said.

Retired NYPD detective and John Jay College adjunct professor Michael Alcazar argued that the symbolism was intentional.

“It was calculated,” Alcazar said.

Critics also focused on Tisch being used as the intermediary, with some arguing it was particularly inappropriate to have the head of the NYPD — a department that lost 23 officers on September 11 — physically pass the commemorative pen to Kassem.

City Hall, however, has pointed to a straightforward explanation for Kassem’s involvement: as Mamdani’s chief counsel, Kassem and his legal team helped draft the executive orders the mayor was signing.

9/119/11 attacksNew York CityRamzi KassemZohran Mamdani