New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced that he is appointing controversial al Qaeda defense lawyer Ramzi Kassem, as the city’s top attorney.
Mamdani, who took office on Jan. 1, announced on Tuesday that he was appointing Kassem, who defended al Qaeda terrorist Ahmed al-Darbi in court,as NYC’s chief counsel, the top legal role in the city.
Mamdani also became the first New York City mayor to be sworn in using a Quran.
Fox News reports: Kassem’s record includes serving as a senior policy advisor for immigration on the White House Domestic Policy Council under former President Joe Biden.
Kassem served as lead counsel in al-Darbi’s defense. In 2014, al-Darbi pled guilty before a U.S. military commission to conspiracy in connection with an al Qaeda terrorist plot to bomb the French oil tanker MV Limburg off the coast of Yemen. One civilian was killed in the attack and several others were injured. He was convicted of the crime in 2017 and was transferred by the Trump administration in 2018 to Saudi Arabia’s custody.
“While it may not make him whole, my hope is that repatriation at least marks the end of injustice for Ahmed,” Kassem said at the time of the transfer, adding he had “16 long and painful years in captivity.”
In 2025, Kassem represented anti-Israel activist and Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil who was arrested by ICE for his alleged role in leading antisemitic demonstrations on campus. Khalil has since been released, though his legal case is ongoing.
Announcing the appointment, Mamdani said, “I will turn to Ramzi for his remarkable experience and his commitment to defending those too often abandoned by our legal system.”
The mayor-elect said that “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.”