NEW YORK (LifeSiteNews) — A group of families of victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks say they don’t want the Big Apple’s self-described first Muslim mayor, socialist Zohran Mamdani, to attend the upcoming 25th anniversary commemoration at Ground Zero over the mayor’s history of concerning remarks and associations regarding Islamist extremism.
The New York Post reported July 25 that a petition to bar Mamdani from the event garnered more than 1,100 signatures in a week, 300 of whom from victims’ families. Since then, the petition has grown to more than 29,000 verified signatures.
“This anniversary is one of remembrance grounded in shared American values: respect for the victims, recognition of the gravity of the attacks, and a clear rejection of the ideologies that contributed to such violence,” the petition reads. “For many families and community members, participation in these ceremonies carries an implicit expectation that those present uphold and affirm these principles without ambiguity.”
The document cites several reasons Mamdani’s record is perceived as “hostile to these shared values,” including his reluctance to condemn the rallying cry “globalize the intifada”; association with “individuals whose public statements or records are viewed by concerned family members as dismissive of American institutions or insufficiently critical of extremist ideologies”; Mamdani’s own father writing in the wake of 9/11 that suicide bombers should be “understood as a feature of modern political violence rather than stigmatized as a mark of barbarism”; Mamdani himself blaming the United States for radicalizing al-Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki; the mayor’s appointment of Ramzi Kassem, “who previously represented Ahmed al-Darbi (convicted in an al-Qaeda tanker bombing plot),” as the city’s chief counsel; his endorsement of “candidates such as Aber Kawas, who described 9/11 as an attack ‘a couple of people did in the context of U.S. capitalism, racism, white supremacy, and Islamophobia,’ and who also expressed sympathy for Ahmed Ferhani, who pleaded guilty to plotting to blow up a Manhattan synagogue”; and more.
Hmm I wonder why the families of 9/11 don’t want Mandami at the 25th anniversary memorial ceremony. Could it be for any of the following reasons?
He campaigned with Hassan Piker who said US deserved 9/11
He endorsed Claire Valdez who also said America deserved 9/11
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 28, 2026
As detailed by the David Horowitz Freedom Center, Mamdani’s campaign received significant financial support from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and related groups and activists accused of ties with and sympathy for Islamist terrorists; has vowed to block virtually all cooperation with federal immigration enforcement; champions government-funded childcare for every New Yorker up to age five; wants government control of utility companies; supports raising the minimum wage to $30 an hour; and more.
During the mayoral race, a November 2023 photograph surfaced of Mamdani and Democrat Councilman Yusef Salaam smiling with Brooklyn imam Siraj Wahhaj, whom he called “one of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders and a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community for nearly half a century.” Federal prosecutor had named Wahhaj as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and while the imam denies that charge, he did publicly vouch for terrorist leader Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the so-called “blind sheik,” as a “respected scholar.”
Such ties already had people challenging the idea of him leading the city so fatefully scarred by the September 11, 2001, terror attacks – an incongruity only reinforced when he gave remarks focusing on Muslim Americans victimized by the reaction to 9/11, in particular “the memory of my aunt who stopped taking the subway after September 11 because she did not feel safe in a hijab.” Internet sleuths quickly determined Mamdani’s aunt did not wear a hijab, prompting him to claim he had been referring to his father’s cousin, rather than his literal aunt.
“Given these concerns, we respectfully ask that the organizers carefully consider whether Mr. Mamdani’s participation would align with the intention of the ceremony and the expectations of the families most directly affected by the tragedy,” the petition reads.
“Our objection is based on his public record – his failure to meaningfully acknowledge the horror of that day, and his employment of, support for, or association with individuals who have minimized 9/11, defended terrorists, or even suggested America ‘deserved’ the attacks,” petition organizer Giovanni Galante, whose wife Grace Catherine Galante was killed on 9/11, explained to the Post. “This day is sacred to us. It is not political, and it is not a platform for those connected to such views. His presence would be deeply hurtful and inappropriate – like an unwelcome guest at a deeply personal ceremony.”
Mamdani responded by dismissing the families’ concerns in a Monday press conference, declaring that “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.”
Mamdani’s victory in the New York mayoral race was seen as a watershed moment both for the city and the Democrat Party given his avowed extremism on abortion, gender, immigration, economics and government power, and more on top of his links to Muslim extremism, particularly given the city’s history with Islamic terror.
Some Republicans have seen one silver lining in the mayor: hoping they can use him to cast the broader Democrat Party as veering further and further into left-wing extremism going into the 2026 midterm elections. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump made a resurgence of communism a recurring theme of his speeches.