New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani gave a ceremonial pen to a lawyer who once defended an al Qaeda operative at Guantánamo Bay.
The moment unfolded September 4 at a City Hall ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Mamdani signed two executive orders at the event, then directed that the pen be passed to his chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch received it first, then handed it to Kassem.
As originally reported, the New York Post first flagged the exchange, which then drew sharp criticism from 9/11 family members and Republican city officials.
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Kassem is a civil liberties and national security attorney who previously represented Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi, an al Qaeda operative held at Guantánamo. Military commission records confirm Kassem was listed as one of al-Darbi’s defense lawyers in a 2013 pretrial agreement. Al-Darbi pleaded guilty in February 2014 to charges stemming from terrorist plots against commercial shipping, including the 2002 bombing of the French oil tanker MV Limburg off the coast of Yemen. That attack killed one crew member and injured others.
Al-Darbi also trained at al Qaeda camps and admitted involvement in plans to strike commercial vessels. He was sentenced in 2017 to 13 years and transferred to Saudi Arabia in 2018. His family ties to September 11 made the story even more pointed. Al-Darbi was the brother-in-law of Khalid al-Mihdhar, one of the hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 77, the plane that struck the Pentagon.
Kassem became Mamdani’s chief counsel when the mayor took office in January. Before that, he taught at the City University of New York School of Law, where he founded the CLEAR clinic, focused on civil liberties and counterterrorism cases. He has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and previously served as a senior policy adviser in the Biden administration.
City Hall defended Kassem’s presence at the ceremony, saying his office helped draft both executive orders and that he attended in his official role as chief legal adviser.
The ceremony itself was designed to formally designate September 11 as a citywide Day of Remembrance and Service. The first executive order directs city agencies to honor victims, recognize first responders and survivors, hold commemorative programs, and observe moments of silence each year. It also acknowledges those who later died from illnesses linked to exposure at Ground Zero. The second order created a new interagency Continuity and Mission Assurance Team to strengthen the city’s ability to maintain essential services during terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and other major emergencies.
Mamdani said the orders were meant to ensure that “Never Forget” was reflected through action, not only remembrance. Critics had a different response. Dennis Warchola, whose firefighter brother Michael died in the North Tower, questioned why Kassem would receive any symbolic item tied to a 9/11 ceremony. Council Member Joann Ariola called the decision disrespectful to victims and their families.
