Families of 9\/11 victims are demanding NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani be banned from the 25th anniversary of the attacks at Ground Zero, branding him an apologist for Islamic terror whose presence would be an insult to the memories of nearly 3,000 people murdered.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur objection is based on his public record \u2014 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 \u2018deserved\u2019 the attacks,\u201d said Giovanni Galante \u2013 whose 29-year-old wife Grace Catherine Galante was among 2,977 innocents killed by al-Qaeda terrorists.<\/p>\n
Galante, 55, is one of the organizers of a petition drive that has collected over 1,100 signatures in a little over a week, including from at least 300 victims\u2019 families.<\/p>\n
Giovanni Galante \u2013 whose 29-year-old wife Grace Catherine Galante was among 2,977 innocents killed by al-Qaeda terrorists on 9\/11 \u2014 is heading a group of families of 9\/11 victims who started a petition drive demanding NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani be barred from attending the 25th anniversary ceremony honoring those lost. Zak Bennett for New York Post<\/p>\n
\u201cThis day is sacred to us,\u201d said the Brooklyn-born real estate agent who now lives in Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not political, and it is not a platform for those connected to such views. His presence would be deeply hurtful and inappropriate \u2014 like an unwelcome guest at a deeply personal ceremony.\u201d<\/p>\n
Galante and other petition organizers hope to gather enough signatures to convince local lawmakers and the ceremony\u2019s organizers, the nonprofit 9\/11 Memorial & Museum, to keep Mamdani away from the silver-anniversary ceremony planned for the former Twin Towers site in Lower Manhattan.<\/p>\n
The petition posted on Change.org<\/a> cites an array of concerns about Mamdani, who is the city\u2019s first Muslim mayor and has promoted his religion since taking office in January. They include:<\/p>\n Mamdani, left, greets the United Kingdom\u2019s King Charles III, second from right, during a visit to the 9\/11 Memorial in April. AP<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s refusal to condemn the \u201cglobalize the intifada\u201d rallying cry for violence against Jewish people.<\/p>\n His palling around on the mayoral campaign last year with Imam Siraj Wahhaj,<\/a> a notorious, gay-hating Brooklyn imam\u00a0who once urged followers to participate in gun-free jihad and \u201cmarch through the city of New York.\u201d\u00a0<\/a>Wahhaj was an unindicted co-conspirator in 1993 World Trade Center bombing.<\/p>\n His appointment of Ramzi Kassem as the city\u2019s chief counsel. Kassem has defended Ahmed al-Darbi \u2014 an al-Qaeda terrorist who pleaded guilty in a 2002 plot to bomb a French oil tanker \u2013 and Mahmoud Khalil, the radical lead organizer of the 2024 anti-Israel tentifada at Columbia University.<\/p>\n The mayor\u2019s endorsement of fellow Democratic Socialist of America member Aber Kawas <\/a>for a state Senate seat \u2014 despite her once describing 9\/11 as a terror attack that\u00a0\u201ca couple of people\u00a0did\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and expressing sympathy for Ahmed Ferhani, who pleaded guilty in 2012 to plotting to blow up a Manhattan synagogue.<\/p>\n Hizzoner\u2019s endorsement of Darializa Avila Chevalier for Congress. Mamdani has called the DSA insurgent the \u201cperfect candidate\u201d <\/a>despite her radical past, which includes once calling the U.S. \u201ca f\u2014ing disgrace\u201d and boasting she desecrated the American flag by using it like a\u00a0napkin\u00a0to\u00a0wipe\u00a0her filthy hands.<\/p>\n Mamdani defending<\/a>\u00a0al-Qaeda fiend\u00a0Anwar al-Awlaki\u00a0<\/a>\u2014 and blaming America for turning the prostitution-loving cleric into a terrorist, according to some of his 2015 social media posts that resurfaced last year. Al-Awlaki became a prominent imam at mosques in San Diego and Virginia, eventually interacting with three of the heinous 9\/11 hijackers there, U.S. officials have said.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s dad, Mahmood Mamdani, <\/a>a chaired professor of African history and colonialism at Columbia University,\u00a0has expressed sympathy for suicide bombers.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven these concerns, we respectfully ask that the organizers carefully consider whether Mr. Mamdani\u2019s participation would align with the intention of the ceremony and the expectations of the families most directly affected by the tragedy,\u201d the petition says.<\/p>\n Firefighters stand before the 9\/11 Memorial and One World Trade Center, surrounded by American flags, last year during the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attack. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cThe 25th anniversary should remain centered on remembrance, unity, and an unambiguous rejection of the violence and extremism that defined that day.\u201d<\/p>\n Organizer Cheri Sparacio, whose 35-year-old husband Thomas was killed on 9\/11, quipped there are\u00a0 \u201cso many other examples\u201d why it would be \u201cdisrespectful\u201d for Mamdani to attend the ceremony that \u201cwe couldn\u2019t fit them on the list.\u201d<\/p>\n Firefighters take a brief break while digging through the remains of the former Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n They include Mamdani\u2019s longtime association with\u00a0vile left-wing influencer Hasan Piker<\/a>, who once said \u201cAmerica deserved\u201d the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, and Mamdani\u2019s outlandish claim that he and other fellow Muslims were also victims of 9\/11 because it supposedly triggered a horrible wave of \u201cIslamophobia,\u201d<\/a> added Sparacio, of Staten Island.<\/p>\n Monica Iken-Murphy, whose 37-year-old husband Michael Iken was killed on 9\/11 and was a leading advocate in the creation of 9\/11 Memorial & Museum, said she signed the petition but insisted it\u2019s not about Mamdani\u2019s politics. <\/p>\n The petition posted on Change.org cites an array of concerns about Mamdani. <\/p>\n Mamdani has a longtime alliance with\u00a0vile left-wing influencer Hasan Piker, who once said \u201cAmerica deserved\u201d the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty Images<\/p>\n Only politicians involved in the healing \u201cprocess from the start\u201d \u2014 such as ex-NYC Mayors Michael Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani, former U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton and longtime 9\/11 family advocate and City Council Speaker Julie Menin \u2014 should join 9\/11 family members in attending \u201cthis pivotal 25th anniversary ceremony,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want families to feel uncomfortable,\u201d said Iken-Murphy, also a founding trustee on the 9\/11 Memorial & Museum\u2019s board. \u201cOthers can come a different day, but let the families have their time.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n When asked about the petition drive, Julie Wood, a spokesperson for the 9\/11 Memorial & Museum, said the nonprofit has \u201cintentionally worked to keep the commemoration free of politics because remembering those we lost on 9\/11 should never be a partisan issue.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGovernment officials from across the political spectrum, including every sitting president, governor, and mayor since 9\/11, have attended the ceremony simply to bear witness \u2014 they do not deliver remarks and are asked to remain in a designated area,\u201d Wood said.<\/p>\n Giovanni Galante with his wife, Grace Catherine Galante. Courtesy of Giovanni Galante<\/p>\n The mayor\u2019s office did not return messages.<\/p>\n Galante and other organizers said they plan to contact the NYC Council for help in their ban-Mamdani crusade.<\/p>\n Menin did not return a message seeking comment, but Queens Councilwoman Joann Ariola told The Post she\u2019s ready to assist.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a mayor who has endorsed candidates and has been endorsed by individuals who openly said that \u2018America deserved 9\/11,\u2019 so I completely understand why families of those who lost loved ones would not want him there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Families of 9\/11 victims are demanding NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani be banned from the 25th anniversary of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[5301,34583,41769,115698,301,95434,53833,10839,4363,19077,36594,57,12363,2576,9,56,63,65,64,94584,87,14738,58,82],"class_list":["post-305460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-9-11","tag-9-11-memorial","tag-al-qaeda","tag-anwar-al-awlaki","tag-city-council","tag-darializa-avila-chevalier","tag-ground-zero","tag-hasan-piker","tag-islamophobia","tag-julie-menin","tag-mahmoud-khalil","tag-metro","tag-michael-bloomberg","tag-museums","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-petitions","tag-politics","tag-rudy-giuliani","tag-us-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}