On Tuesday, Socialist New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced the appointment of Ramzi Kassem as the city’s top attorney.
Kassem gained notoriety for defending al-Qaeda terrorist Ahmed al-Darbi when he served as lead counsel.
In 2014, al-Darbi pled guilty in connection with an al-Qaeda terrorist plot to bomb a French oil tanker near Yemen in 2002, leaving a civilian dead and several others injured. He was convicted in 2017 and ultimately transferred to Saudi Arabia in 2018.
Al-Darbi’s brother-in-law was Khalid al-Mihdhar, one of the five hijackers on American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon during the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The New York Post reports that in 2009, “Kassem founded a legal clinic at CUNY, which offers free legal representation to Muslims and other communities in New York City.”
The nonprofit, Creating Law Enforcement Accountability and Responsibility (CLEAR) is largely funded by progressive philanthropist George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, which have given the clinic more than $3 million, public records show.
The Associated Press and The New York Times reported at the time that Kassem said, “While it may not make him whole, my hope is that repatriation at least marks the end of injustice for Ahmed… He had 16 long and painful years in captivity.”
Kassem is also part of the legal team representing radical Islamist Mahmoud Khalil.
Jihad Mamdani Appoints al Qaeda Terrorist Lawyer for Top Role
The conquest of 9/11 is complete.https://t.co/qSg6MKrO0z
— Pamela Geller (@PamelaGeller) December 31, 2025
In his announcement, Mamdani said, “I am delighted to announce that I am naming Ramzi Kassem as Chief Counsel.”
“Ramzi will be joining the administration from CUNY, where he serves as a professor of law. Government service is no novel concept for Ramzi, who served as a senior policy advisor for President Biden from 2022 to 2024.”
“He has deep experience arguing in court, including before the Supreme Court.”
“I will turn to Ramzi for his remarkable experience and his commitment to defending those too often abandoned by our legal system.”
“City Hall will be stronger with him in it, and our work of building a more prosperous city for all will have a powerful advocate.”
“My sincere hope is that New Yorkers who have long felt on the margins of this city…the homeless veterans straining to survive, the patient searching for the care they need, an immigrant trying to get by, will feel that they now have leaders in their corner who understand their struggles and care to fight for them.”
Watch:
NEW: Zohran Mamdani announced the nomination of Ramzi Kassem as Chief Counsel of New York City.
Kassem returned to America from the Middle East in 2001, inspired by 9/11 to defend an Al Qaeda terrorist.
“I found myself pulled in the direction of doing rights work domestically… pic.twitter.com/Duxc04q3b3
— Wall Street Mav (@WallStreetMav) December 31, 2025
In 2015, Kassem penned an op-ed for Al Jazeera stating that the movie American Sniper is “a racist, self-involved apology for jingoism and military occupation dressed up as a B-movie,” and calling hero Chris Kyle and his “comrades-in-arms” savages.
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