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>Zohran Mamdani puts 9/11 Al Qaeda defense lawyer in charge as Chief Counsel
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this Zohran Mamdani puts 9/11 Al Qaeda defense lawyer in charge as Chief Counsel
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No, the specific claim as stated is not true.Zohran Mamdani, New York City's mayor-elect, did announce on December 30, 2025, that he is appointing Ramzi Kassem as Chief Counsel (the mayor's top legal advisor in City Hall).Kassem is a civil rights lawyer and CUNY law professor who previously represented Ahmed Ghailani (wait, no—sources confirm Ahmed al-Darbi), an al-Qaeda operative who pleaded guilty in 2014 to involvement in the 2002 bombing of a French oil tanker (MV Limburg) off Yemen, which killed one person. Kassem has also defended Guantánamo detainees and others in post-9/11 cases. This has drawn significant criticism from conservative outlets (e.g., Fox News, Gateway Pundit, Washington Examiner) for appointing someone who defended an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist.However:There is no evidence in news reports, announcements, or public records that Mamdani appointed anyone named Lamis Deek (or similar) to this role. Deek is a separate Palestinian-American human rights lawyer and activist known for pro-Palestinian advocacy and defending clients in national security/terrorism-related cases, but she is not connected to this appointment.
The claim appears to mix up names or details—the core controversy is about Kassem's past defense of an al-Qaeda figure (post-9/11 terrorism case), not a direct "9/11 Al Qaeda" perpetrator or planner.
Mamdani praised Kassem for his work defending immigrants and marginalized groups, framing the pick as advancing civil rights and the rule of law. Critics argue it signals weak stance on counterterrorism.If this claim comes fro