9/11 Families Tell Mamdani to Skip Memorial Ceremony
“This 25th anniversary is for victims and survivors to blend in and pray that day for all the families — not have a circus around us.”
Families of 9/11 victims, first responders, and elected officials have one message for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani regarding the 25th anniversary ceremonies: “We do not want you to come.”
BREAKING: 9/11 families have gathered in NYC, demanding that Zohran Mamdani not attend.
“We do not want you to come.” pic.twitter.com/Ujtj4yvMXr
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) September 8, 2026
New York City Council Member Vickie Paladino and the families plan to deliver a petition with over 100,000 signatures against Mamdani’s appearance before the Friday service.
Giovanni Galante, who lost his wife in the terrorist attack, organized the petition, which “asks that the sacred anniversary remain a solemn, distraction-free day of mourning rather than a backdrop for political presence.”
“We don’t believe in what he believes in, and we really want us to be left alone,” explained Galante. “This 25th anniversary is for victims and survivors to blend in and pray that day for all the families — not have a circus around us.”
From Fox News:
“This mayor is not serving us,” Charles Wolf, who lost his wife on 9/11, said at a noon news conference. “He’s serving himself. We are asking respectfully that he not show up.”
“Even though there is going to be other politicians there, these are the politicians that helped us push beneficial laws through and literally held our hand during that time,” Wolf continued. “Mayor Mamdani has not shown any of that, none of it. He just wants to be there because he wants to be there.”
“So we are asking him to respect the fact that that trauma is revived during the ceremony. It is a private ceremony. It is not a public ceremony. Mayor Mamdani, please do not come.”
The stance has nothing to do with Mamdani’s faith or background, but his actions:
Cheri Sparacio, whose husband, Tom, was killed in the South Tower, said the petition was not about the mayor’s background or faith, but his public actions. She noted Mamdani’s appointment of chief counsel Ramzi Kassem — who previously represented individuals accused of terror ties — and his past ties to figures who have downplayed terror threats.
“That is what we object to,” she said.
Unfortunately, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed Mamdani will attend:
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul confirms Mayor Zohran Mamdani will attend the city's 9/11 remembrance ceremony despite backlash and calls from some victims' families for him to stay away.
Hochul urged unity ahead of the 25th anniversary, saying New Yorkers should come together to… pic.twitter.com/FhE756YC17
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 8, 2026
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
While my sympathy is with these people who don’t want him there, the way this is portrayed in the news reports, including this one, is misleading and dishonest. Calling them “9/11 families”, and “Families of 9/11 victims” is deliberately meant to imply that they represent all the families, or the bulk of them, when in fact they represent only some of the families.
We should be sensitive to this trick because we see it all the time on the other side: “Parkland Families”, “Families of Parkland shooting victims”, when in fact they only speak for the families of some Parkland victims and not for others. We correctly call the other side out when they do it, so we should be careful not to do it ourselves.
If someone wants to speak on behalf of “the families” they first have to contact all the families and get their consent, or have them all join an organization and then be appointed by the organization as its spokesman.
Also, “It is a private ceremony. It is not a public ceremony” is just not true. The speaker and others are free to hold their own private ceremony, but the official one that Hochul and Mamdani intend to be at is a public ceremony. It’s organized by the government, and the government is the one that makes it official, so by definition it’s public, not private.
If Mamdani were a decent person he would stay away, but then if he were a decent person he wouldn’t be asked to stay away, he’d be willingly invited to attend. The same reasons that make these families not want him there are the ones that impel him to be there and force his presence on them.
Loathsome. Period.
Likewise, every year Pearl Harbor Families step forward and take charge of the ceremonies honoring those who died on 12/7.
somewhere along the way you’ve lost the plot
lol so true
So you’re OK with David Hogg presuming to speak for “the Parkland Families”???? Seriously?! I don’t believe you are.
According to the mainstream media: He does.
But we know he doesn’t. How do you not see that this report is doing exactly the same thing?
Milhouse showing us he is deliberately obtuse. What a troll!
> “So you’re OK with David Hogg presuming to speak for “the Parkland Families”????”
[WHISTLE BLOWS] Referee: Strawman argument. Fifteen yard penalty, loss of down.
It’s literally exactly the same thing.
Oh, he’ll go; as a big thumb in the eye of the 9/11 survivors. spewing platitudes and faking concern. I wonder if he will keep his execrable smile on during it?
Once the boot is on the neck, any lessening of pressure is seen as weakness.
The smile is a given. Mamdani sees this as “his” moment, a socialist Sun King.
Let me say this again for the slow ones in the back.
Mamdani already knows they don’t want him to come. THAT’S THE REASON HE’S GOING.
This is about him taunting them and rubbing it in their faces that a Muslim is mayor now. ‘We won’ is the message he’s sending.
Just like when they tried to build a mosque at ground zero.
He plans to tell them, “I want to speak to the memory of my aunt who stopped taking the subway after 9/11 because she did not feel safe in her hijab.”
That was such a sad story! Like when Uncle Al Sharpton told us how he had to save Tawana Brawley.
That’s the moment for the families to start jeering.
No, he’s going because he’s the mayor and this is an official ceremony, so he’s expected to go. The fact that a significant number of victims’ families don’t want him there is irrelevant to him. He doesn’t care about their feelings, because he’s not a decent person. But that’s not the reason he’s going.
No. There is no expectation for him to go. In fact, the expectation is for him to stay away. that’s what the article is about.
He hangs out with people that outright justify the 9/11 attacks, Milhouse. He’s not going as an apology. He’s going in triumph.
In what universe is it not the expectation that when a city holds an official ceremony commemorating an important event in its history, the mayor will be there? You don’t believe your own claim; you can’t believe it. It’s impossible to believe it. He’s the mayor; therefore he belongs there.
Staying away anyway would be a decent thing, but it would need explaining. And of course if he were a decent person the whole issue wouldn’t have come up, because no one would have wanted him to stay away. But he’s not a decent person, and he doesn’t care about anyone’s feelings, so he’ll do the expected thing and show up.
This is not a private ceremony.
Deconstruct that expectation that as mayor he “belongs” at the ceremony and this is what you get: he is mayor elected by a minority of the voting population. He is a radical Islamist who believes NY “deserved” 9/11. He ignores the wishes of the families of victims: he is a mayor who does not care. He hates the US so why would he attend this ceremony other than to platform his hatred. He could come up with some phony explanation for not attending and that would be fine, but he will not do that. It’s not a private ceremony: right, it is a public ceremony for families who want to remember/respect all those lost on 9/11. Mamdani could care less about remembering the victims; he has made that clear. It is a day for the country as a whole to remember what happened because it is worth remembering who we are. Mamdani would just as soon forget 9/11 entirely; why should he attend?
Dear 9/11 Familes,
Bring eggs, tomatoes, heck, pool balls.
Fire away.
“pool balls”
It’s what the CULTURED use, instead of half bricks.
Just turn your backs on him
Pork fat.
All of the above
And Hochul can wear her new hijab
Vogue and The New Yorker can use the picture for the cover on their next issue!
Byline – “What. Me Worry?”
Or Uptown Terrorist Chic.
Do you think Mamdani will include something like “Allah Akbar” in his public 9/11 comments?
If he shows up, he won’t have an excuse to feign surprise at the boos.
Please boo loudly.
Paging Mr. Otoya Y.