New York City will now have both a Muslim mayor, and a Muslim city attorney.
From Fox News: Socialist New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced on Tuesday that he is appointing controversial lawyer Ramzi Kassem, who defended al Qaeda terrorist Ahmed al-Darbi in court, as the city’s top attorney.
Mamdani, who will take office on Jan. 1, announced he was appointing Kassem as New York City’s chief counsel, the top legal role in the city. He also shared that he is appointing Steven Banks a self-proclaimed “social justice attorney” as corporation counsel and Helen Arteaga as deputy mayor for health and human services.
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.
The report notes that Kassem represented pro-Hamas activist and Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil this year, who was arrested by ICE for his alleged role in leading antisemitic demonstrations on campus.
According to the New York Times, Kassem was born in Beirut, and grew up in several countries in the Middle East. After immigrating to the U.S., he graduated with both an undergraduate and law degree from Columbia University.
Kassem first became involved in defending Muslim-Americans against “government overreach” shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks when Muslims were being investigated and detained in New York, the Times reported in a 2017 article.
In a chilling explanation, Fox News wrote:
Kassem is the founder of the Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility (CLEAR) law clinic, a project that, according to its website, has a mandate “to support Muslim and all other client, communities, and movements in the New York City area and beyond that are targeted by local, state, or federal government agencies under the guise of national security and counterterrorism.”
In a post on X Tuesday night, Mamdani cheered, “Welcome to A New Era, Ramzi Kassem! Ramzi Kassem joins the administration from the City University of New York School of Law, where he co-founded and now co-directs CLEAR (Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility), which has been on the front lines of providing legal defense for students detained by ICE and supporting many more at risk. Kassem also served under President Joe Biden as Senior Policy Advisor. Kassem is an immigrant and now proud resident of Harlem.”
Welcome to A New Era, Ramzi Kassem!
Ramzi Kassem joins the administration from the City University of New York School of Law, where he co-founded and now co-directs CLEAR (Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility), which has been on the front lines of providing… pic.twitter.com/KmDmYGFTbg
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) December 31, 2025
READ MORE from Fox News.
Way to go Democrats. What an evil and corrupt cabal of America haters and anti-west jihadists. Truly a tragedy for America. Violent extremists will be the heroes of Democrats. https://t.co/biGBw3esSa
— James Myles (@Myles11CD) December 31, 2025
Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter.)
The DML News App: www.X.com/DMLNewsApp
The Dennis Michael Lynch Podcast archive is available below, with the most recent on top. Never miss an episode. Subscribe to the show by downloading The DML News App or go to Apple Podcasts.
