New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stood at Ground Zero on the 25th anniversary of September 11 despite a petition signed by more than 100,000 people begging him to stay home.
Story Snapshot
- A 9/11 families’ petition topped 100,000 signatures asking Mamdani to skip the anniversary ceremony.
- Named family members publicly said they did not want the mayor there.
- Mamdani attended anyway, saying he wanted to honor families and first responders.
- Former officials like Rudy Giuliani and George Pataki joined calls for him to stay away.
- A viral claim that Mamdani and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez laughed during the reading of victims’ names has not been backed by verified video or eyewitness accounts.
A Petition Grows Into a Political Fight
A Change.org petition led by Giovanni Galante, whose wife Grace Catherine Galante died in the attacks, asked organizers to reconsider Mamdani’s attendance at the 25th anniversary ceremony. The petition passed 100,000 signatures over the summer. It argued his presence might not match “the expectations of the families most directly affected by the tragedy,” turning a private grief event into a public political dispute months before the ceremony even happened.
Families Speak Out Directly
Fox News and the New York Post quoted a family member saying plainly, “My message for Mayor Mamdani is we don’t want you to come.” Reporters described the ceremony as sacred ground for the families and survivors who return there every year. That message became a rallying point for organizers who saw Mamdani’s politics as clashing with the tone families wanted for the day.
Mamdani Attends Despite the Warnings
Mamdani did not back down. He told reporters he would “proudly honor the families, the survivors, the first responders forever impacted by that horrific terror attack by standing alongside them” at the ceremony. His office said he planned to attend the main event and other 9/11 gatherings that Friday, continuing what he called a tradition he followed even before taking office as mayor.
Old Political Rivals Pile On
The dispute pulled in some of the city’s most recognizable political names. Giuliani, who was mayor during the 2001 attacks, said Mamdani’s attendance “offends” him. Pataki, New York’s governor at the time of the attacks, also said Mamdani should stay away. Republican senators in Washington backed the families’ petition, calling Mamdani’s planned attendance a “disgrace”.
Critics also pointed to Mamdani’s past associations, including with immigration lawyer Ramzi Kassem and commentator Hasan Piker, arguing those ties made his presence at the ceremony harder for some families to accept. That criticism focused on who Mamdani knows, not on anything he did once he arrived at Ground Zero, leaving a gap between political attacks and specific claims of misconduct at the event itself.
Families Split Over His Presence
Not every family agreed with the petition. CBS New York reported that some 9/11 relatives publicly defended Mamdani’s inclusion in the ceremony after the petition circulated widely. Their support showed the community itself was divided, complicating the narrative that all families wanted him excluded and adding nuance to a story that national outlets often framed as one-sided outrage.
A Viral Claim Without Verified Proof
Video clips and social media posts claimed Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez were seen laughing together while the names of the dead were read aloud. No verified footage, transcript, or on-record eyewitness account in available reporting confirms that specific moment. A fact-check review found the public record centers on objections to Mamdani’s attendance, not documented behavior once he was there.
Calling 9/11 family members “bigots” simply because they object to ONE politician attending their loved ones’ memorial is disgraceful.
Muslim Americans were also murdered on 9/11. Muslim families grieved on 9/11. Muslims condemned al-Qaeda. Muslims were threatened and harmed…
— Kathleen Wood (@KathleenWoodnys) September 10, 2026
The episode fits a familiar pattern where memorials turn into stages for political conflict. Researchers who study public commemorations note that disputes over who attends, who speaks, and how they behave at sacred sites are common, especially when a polarizing figure is involved. Petitions and outrage spread fast online, but that volume measures opposition, not proof of any specific claim made against an attendee.
Sources:
nypost.com, northjersey.com, theguardian.com, abcnews4.com, clevelandjewishnews.com
