Mamdani can smile that toothy snake smile of his and verbally tell the world that, of course, 9/11 is important. But it’s his actions that we must pay attention to. Yesterday Ramzi Kassem, an attorney who counted an Al-Qaeda terrorist as one of his clients, was given a symbolic 9/11 pen.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed an executive order recognizing 9/11 Friday — and then gave the symbolic pen to his controversial aide who once represented an al-Qaeda terrorist with links to the attack on the Pentagon.

Administration officials were gathered at City Hall for a pair of executive orders — ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks — one establishing a Day of Remembrance and another beefing up security against future terror threats.

After Mamdani signed the last of the documents, Hizzoner gave Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch the ceremonial pen, and whispered, “Can you pass this?”

Tisch awkwardly handed it to Mamdani’s chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem, who just snuck into the press conference, before she hurried out of the Blue Room — the first official to exit the press conference.

Again, actions speak WAY louder than words here. 

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2096342078804353439

Ramzi Kassem currently serves as Mamdani’s chief counsel. 

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has tapped a controversial lawyer who defended an al Qaeda terrorist and a radical anti-Israel campus leader at Columbia for a “high-ranking” position at City Hall, The Post has learned.

Ramzi Kassem, who is also a law professor at City University of New York and a member of Mamdani’s transition team for legal affairs, is the top candidate for Chief Counsel, the most important advisory role in the mayor’s office, according to a source close to the transition team.

Kassem, 47, was one of the attorneys who defended Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born leader of the pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and earmarked for deportation. However, after 104 days in a detention camp judges ruled he should be released.

Kassem not only served as Khalil’s attorney, he spent quite a number of years as an attorney for one of the Al-Qaeda terrorists, one whose sister was married to a 9/11 hijacker. Furthermore, his activist track record has a lot of red flags waving around. 

Kassem, who was born in Syria, was also engaged in anti-Israel protests at Columbia, where he attended law school on a fellowship funded by members of leftwing activists the Soros family, records show.

In 1999, he wrote a letter to the editor of the Columbia Spectator newspaper criticizing the naming of a sandwich as an “Israeli wrap” because it was offensive to Muslims and Arabs, he said.

In other columns for the newspaper, he wrote that Israel’s behavior amounted to “a clear case of ethnic cleansing,” and in another article in 1998 he wrote that Jews had come to the Middle East “with the intention of conquering the land.” A two-state solution between Israel and Palestine “is not viable, nor is it desirable,” he claimed.

This is whom Mamdani deliberately handed a pen to after he signed documents involving upcoming events on 9/11. 

He. Did. It. Intentionally.

Every move is calculated. It is a dog whistle for his base.

Trolling + provoking outrage from Americans against political Islam and Islamism is the point. He smiles his snake smile as Americans are held hostage to this emotional terror

On purpose https://t.co/IMC9nAqmcZ

— Josh Wolfe (@wolfejosh) September 5, 2026

 Yes, he absolutely did that on purpose. 

“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,” seethed Council Member Vicki Paladino (R-Queens).

“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.  

Is it any wonder that the 9/11 families, the FDNY and likely many NYPD don’t want Mamdani anywhere near the site of the Twin Towers on that day? 

Again, actions speak louder than words. Mamdani is showing us exactly who he is. Pay attention. 

Feature Photo Credit: Original artwork by Victory Girls Darleen Click