Mayor Zohran Mamdani calls 9/11 attacks the ‘horrific act of terror’, attends Ground Zero Ceremony despite ban petition

Mayor Zohran Mamdani paid a moving tribute to those who lost their lives and were affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Taking to social media, he shared a video message and called the attacks a 'horrific act of terror'.

Zohran Mamdani on 9/11 victims

"September 11th was a horrific act of terror. A day of immeasurable loss. 2,753 parents and children, husbands and wives, friends and colleagues. 2,753 universes gone in an instant," Mamdani, 34, said while he sat at a desk outdoors, with the Manhattan skyline in the background.

In the video, the New York City Mayor said, “And in the years since, thousands more have died from illness caused by the toxic air they breathed, in the months they spent working on the pile.”

How New Yorkers responded on the darkest day

Mamdani called 9/11 the "darkest day" in the history of New York, adding, "We also remember what so many New Yorkers did in that darkness."

"We remember the thousands upon thousands of New Yorkers who lined up for hours to donate blood. We remember the people who opened their homes to those who could not get home," he continued.

"We remember the workers who carried their colleagues down hundreds of stairs, then turned around and went back up to find someone else who needed help."

"25 years later, we have a sacred obligation to those who were stolen from us. To care for one another how they cared for strangers," the politician also said.

"To live lives worthy of the sacrifices they made and to build a city worthy of their courage. A city where we run toward one another. That is how we remember," he concluded.

Ground Zero Ceremony

On this day, mourners, survivors and fellow citizen gathered around the twin waterfall pools that mark the footprints of the two towers in Lower Manhattan on the somber day.

They were joined by several politicians, including Vice President JD Vance, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and former mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg on the remembrance day. Former US presidents were also in attendance, including Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton.

Continuing the tradition, family members read out the names of the 2,983 people who were killed on the tragic day, as well as the February 26, 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Beginning at 8:46 AM, six moments of silence were observed at the times when each of the towers was struck, when each fell, when the Pentagon was attacked and when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania.

The viral petition against Mamdani

Mamdani attended the event despite the viral petition. According to multiple US media outlets, a petition with thousands of signatures surfaced, aiming to ban him from attending the ceremony.

One of the organisers of the petition, Giovanni Galante, had told the New York Post earlier, "Our objection is based on his public record — 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 'deserved' the attacks."