{"id":8183,"date":"2026-09-05T20:36:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T20:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183"},"modified":"2026-09-05T20:36:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T20:36:27","slug":"exclusive-mamdani-hands-symbolic-9-11-pen-to-lawyer-who-once-represented-al-qaeda-terrorist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | Mamdani hands symbolic 9\/11 pen to lawyer who once represented al-Qaeda terrorist"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed an executive order recognizing 9\/11 Friday \u2014 and then handed the symbolic pen over to his controversial aide who once represented an al-Qaeda terrorist with links to the attack on the Pentagon.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8181\">Shoppers at BJ\u2019s Wholesale Club finally realize what initials in store name stand for<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Administration officials were gathered at City Hall for a pair of executive orders \u2014 ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks \u2014 one establishing a Day of Remembrance and another beefing up security against future terror threats.<\/p>\n<p>After Mamdani signed the last of the documents, Hizzoner gave Police Commissioner Jessica Tish the ceremonial pen, and whispered, \u201cCan you pass this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tisch awkwardly handed it to Mamdani\u2019s chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem, who just snuck into the press conference, before she hurried out of the Blue Room \u2014 the first official to exit the press conference.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s bulls\u2013t,\u201d slammed Dennis Warchola, whose brother Michael, a firefighter with Ladder 5, was killed in the North Tower.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow can you defend a guy like that who wants to do Americans or any innocent person harm?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kassem, a lawyer who famously represented al-Qaeda operative\u00a0Ahmed al-Darbi, is seen on video smirking as he receives the symbolic pen.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8179\">Arthur Marshall, former Giants receiver, dead at 57<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Al-Darbi was sent to Guant\u00e1namo Bay after he was convicted of terrorism in the 2002 bombing of a French oil tanker in the Middle East \u2014 part of an al Qaeda plot to attack the global oil trade after 9\/11. His sister married Khalid al-Mihdhar, one of the 9\/11 hijackers of the plane that crashed into the Pentagon.<\/p>\n<p>The 48-year-old Kassem, who founded a legal clinic at CUNY that offers free legal representation to Muslims, also defended\u00a0Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of the pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia\u00a0who was detained by ICE.<\/p>\n<p>The controversial lawyer and top Mamdani aide wasn\u2019t present during the\u00a0press conference\u00a0until the very end, when he snuck in some 15 minutes late \u2014 and made a quick exit, right behind Tisch.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a bit tone deaf to be signing this 9\/11 Executive Order with your Chief Counsel, Ramzi Kassem, a former al-Qaeda defense lawyer, in the shot,\u201d blasted former Democratic political consultant David Sivella on X.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOr was it deliberate on your part to give your Muslim base a hint that this is all BS to pacify other New Yorkers?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8177\">Dramatic twist in harassment suit against star CBS correspondent Matt Gutman<\/a><\/p>\n<p>City Hall did not immediately return The Post\u2019s request for comment. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mamdani signed an executive order recognizing 9\/11 Friday and then gave the symbolic pen to his chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem, who represented an al-Qaeda operative tied to one of the 9\/11 hijackers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metro"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Exclusive | Mamdani hands symbolic 9\/11 pen to lawyer who once represented al-Qaeda terrorist - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exclusive | Mamdani hands symbolic 9\/11 pen to lawyer who once represented al-Qaeda terrorist - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mamdani signed an executive order recognizing 9\/11 Friday and then gave the symbolic pen to his chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem, who represented an al-Qaeda operative tied to one of the 9\/11 hijackers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-05T20:36:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8183#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8183\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Exclusive | Mamdani hands symbolic 9\\\/11 pen to lawyer who once represented al-Qaeda terrorist\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-05T20:36:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8183\"},\"wordCount\":431,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8183#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/bf8e499e3ce86fc1d6a60859545bdff3.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Metro\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8183#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8183\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8183\",\"name\":\"Exclusive | Mamdani hands symbolic 9\\\/11 pen to lawyer who once represented al-Qaeda terrorist - Metro Transit Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8183#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8183#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/bf8e499e3ce86fc1d6a60859545bdff3.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-05T20:36:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8183#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8183\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8183#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/bf8e499e3ce86fc1d6a60859545bdff3.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/bf8e499e3ce86fc1d6a60859545bdff3.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8183#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Exclusive | Mamdani hands symbolic 9\\\/11 pen to lawyer who once represented al-Qaeda terrorist\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metro Transit Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Exclusive | Mamdani hands symbolic 9\/11 pen to lawyer who once represented al-Qaeda terrorist - Metro Transit Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Exclusive | Mamdani hands symbolic 9\/11 pen to lawyer who once represented al-Qaeda terrorist - Metro Transit Review","og_description":"Mamdani signed an executive order recognizing 9\/11 Friday and then gave the symbolic pen to his chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem, who represented an al-Qaeda operative tied to one of the 9\/11 hijackers.","og_url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183","og_site_name":"Metro Transit Review","article_published_time":"2026-09-05T20:36:27+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"headline":"Exclusive | Mamdani hands symbolic 9\/11 pen to lawyer who once represented al-Qaeda terrorist","datePublished":"2026-09-05T20:36:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183"},"wordCount":431,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bf8e499e3ce86fc1d6a60859545bdff3.webp","articleSection":["Metro"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183","name":"Exclusive | Mamdani hands symbolic 9\/11 pen to lawyer who once represented al-Qaeda terrorist - Metro Transit Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bf8e499e3ce86fc1d6a60859545bdff3.webp","datePublished":"2026-09-05T20:36:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bf8e499e3ce86fc1d6a60859545bdff3.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bf8e499e3ce86fc1d6a60859545bdff3.webp","width":1200,"height":799},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8183#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Exclusive | Mamdani hands symbolic 9\/11 pen to lawyer who once represented al-Qaeda terrorist"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/","name":"Metro Transit Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/metrotransitreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}