The controversy erupted in the days leading up to Friday’s solemn observances, as reported by Just The News, when Mamdani’s conduct surrounding a new 9/11 executive order raised alarms among victims’ families, law enforcement supporters, and conservative critics. According to Just The News, the mayor signed an executive order formally designating September 11 as a day of commemoration and service, then quietly orchestrated a symbolic gesture that many saw as a stunning insult to the memory of the nearly 3,000 Americans murdered that day.
After signing the order, Mamdani handed the ceremonial pen to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch with instructions that it be passed to his chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem, a lawyer who previously represented an Al-Qaeda operative. Kassem, in private practice, had defended Ahmed al-Darbi, a convicted terrorist tied to Al-Qaeda plots against commercial shipping and the brother-in-law of Khalid al-Midhar, one of the hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 77 that slammed into the Pentagon.
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For many New Yorkers, the symbolism was impossible to ignore: the city’s mayor using a 9/11 remembrance order to honor a man whose legal work aided a convicted Al-Qaeda figure. Critics argue that such a move reflects a broader ideological posture on the left that is more eager to extend grace to America’s enemies than to stand unequivocally with the nation’s victims and defenders.
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Fueling the backlash further, a year-old interview Mamdani gave to The New York Times resurfaced last week, in which he framed the attacks primarily as a catalyst for anti-Muslim sentiment. “It was this horrific day that was also for many New Yorkers the moment at which they were marked an ‘other,’” he was quoted by the Times as saying.
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That framing has not sat well with those who believe the primary focus of any 9/11 remembrance should be the lives lost, the heroism of first responders, and the evil of the terrorists—not progressive narratives about victimhood and identity politics. Mamdani’s critics say his comments and actions reveal a worldview that downplays the nature of the enemy that attacked the United States and instead centers grievances about American society.
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Rudy Giuliani, the Republican former mayor who became a symbol of resilience and resolve in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, has been blunt in his assessment of Mamdani’s role in this year’s ceremonies. "If he had a little bit of a heart, even with his views, he wouldn't go because he would know he's disturbing the people who are the most important people at that celebration," said Giuliani.
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Giuliani went further in remarks to Newsmax, suggesting that Mamdani’s worldview is fundamentally at odds with American values. The hijackers “weren’t hiding it like Mamdani is trying to hide it,” he said, adding simply, “It offends me.”
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Conservative commentator Benny Johnson also condemned the mayor’s decision to honor Kassem with the ceremonial pen. "This is a slap in the face to victims ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11," he wrote on X.
Businessman and philanthropist Adam Milstein echoed that outrage, highlighting the symbolism of Mamdani’s choice. “Zohran Mamdani handed the ceremonial pen used to sign a 9/11 remembrance order to his chief counsel, who previously represented an al-Qaeda operative,” Milstein wrote in X. “Of all the people in City Hall he could have honored, Mamdani chose him.
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“Absolutely grotesque,” he wrote.
Local officials have joined the chorus of criticism, underscoring how out of step the mayor’s gesture appears to many ordinary New Yorkers. City Council Member Joann Ariola, a Queens Republican, told The New York Post the mayor’s action was “breathtakingly tone-deaf and disrespectful.”
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“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 also said.
Nearly 3,000 innocent people were murdered on that clear September morning, a fact that remains the moral center of the day for most Americans. For many on the right, the expectation is simple: elected leaders should treat that memory with unambiguous reverence, not ideological experimentation or symbolic gestures that appear to elevate those who stood on the other side of the war on terror.
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Mamdani, however, has largely brushed aside the criticism and is pressing ahead with plans to attend a dozen separate 9/11 events this week. He maintains that he fully understands the gravity of the day and honors those who perished.
“I will proudly honor the families, the survivors, the first responders forever impacted by that horrific terror attack by standing alongside them at this year’s 9/11 commemoration, reaffirming that we will never forget the solemn day felt by all of us who call this city home and, frankly, by all of us who call this country home,” he said back in July. Whether New Yorkers—especially the families of the fallen—accept that assurance from a mayor whose symbolic choices have already reopened old wounds remains an open question.
