2026-09-11 · contested story

Ms Rachel defends 'awesome' Mamdani amid 9/11 memorial controversy, says he's victim of Islamophobic attacks

The controversy centers on New York City's first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, whose planned attendance at the 25th anniversary 9/11 memorial ceremony drew a petition with over 100,000 signatures from victims' families and critics demanding he stay away. The backlash intensified over Mamdani's appointment of Ramzi Kassem as chief legal counsel (Kassem previously represented a convicted al-Qaeda member whose brother-in-law was a 9/11 hijacker), and over a ceremonial pen handover that critics read as a symbolic message. Simultaneously, Mamdani's administration released roughly 170,000 pages of long-hidden documents suggesting city officials misled the public about toxic air quality around Ground Zero. Defenders, including children's entertainer 'Ms Rachel' (later named to Mamdani's inaugural committee), characterize the attacks as Islamophobic bad-faith campaigns. The framing splits sharply. Left outlets like Middle East Eye and The Guardian frame the episode as an Islamophobic smear campaign, emphasizing that Mamdani is a 'victim' of 'racist, baseless attacks' and that opposing the killing of children (or standing beside Mamdani) is being unfairly labeled 'controversial.' Center outlets (NBC, Time, Gothamist, ABC7, SCMP, BBC) focus overwhelmingly on the substantive news—the document release and toxic-air cover-up—largely setting aside the memorial controversy. Right and right-center outlets like The Washington Stand, Washington Examiner, The Center Square and Fox News foreground the families' grievances, Kassem's terrorism-defense background, the pen incident, and calls from Giuliani and Pataki, framing Mamdani's associations as offensive to victims on 'sacred ground.'

How each side frames it

left
"a label critics say reflects a broader effort to stigmatise pro-Palestine speech"
"The only people that think Ms. Rachel is "controversial", or that NYC Jews will be in danger once Mamdani takes office, are deranged supporters of the genocidal apartheid state"
"The headlines that strain to frame compassion as provocation will age quickly and people will look back and marvel that standing up for the children of Gaza was ever framed as something suspect"
"condemned the "racist, baseless" attacks he's faced in recent days, saying the attacks exemplify the islamophobia Muslims all over New York face every day"
"It's not about his religion or where he came from. It's about the policies he has today"
center
"some notes suggest city officials knew of the potential environmental dangers and legal exposure in the early aftermath of the terror attacks"
"People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air"
"The release is part of an agreement with 9/11 Health Watch, a victims' advocacy group that had taken legal action to compel the city to make the documents public"
"But other families and local lawmakers have pushed back"
"asbestos was found "nearly everywhere" they tested near Ground Zero"
right
"I am not asking politely, I am demanding" ... "that he not show his face on that sacred ground"
"This resistance is largely the result of Mamdani's affiliation with Ramzi Kassem, who Mamdani appointed as the city's chief legal counsel. In the past, Kassem represented a convicted al-Qaeda member whose brother-in-law was one of the 9/11 plane hijackers"
"Having lost friends there, and being very close to many of the families, it offends me that he's coming"
"Mamdani, New York City's first Muslim mayor, has been criticized by Jewish groups over his alignment with pro-Palestinian groups... and his use of the phrase "globalize the intifada," which has been linked to acts of violence against Jewish people and acts of terrorism"
"That was a message to each and every one of us... What's going on here at City Hall and what we got representing us at City Hall, they do not belong on sacred ground"

What each side left out

The left left out — covered by the The Washington Stand & The Center Square & Mediaite
The left left out — covered by the The Center Square & The Washington Stand
The right left out — covered by the The Guardian US & Gothamist & amNewYork
The right left out — covered by the The Guardian US & The Center Square
The center left out — covered by the Middle East Eye & The Washington Stand
The left left out — covered by the The Guardian US & The Center Square & Mediaite

What's actually true?

[verified] New York City released approximately 170,000 pages of documents related to post-9/11 air quality on Tuesday, September 8, 2026
[verified] Mamdani stated 'People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air'
[verified] A change.org petition from 9/11 families gathered over 100,000 signatures urging Mamdani to be excluded from the memorial
[verified] Mamdani appointed Ramzi Kassem as chief legal counsel; Kassem previously represented a convicted al-Qaeda member whose brother-in-law was a 9/11 hijacker
[verified] The so-called 'Harding Memo' from October 2001 warned city officials the city could face roughly 10,000 legal claims from toxic exposure
[verified] More people have died from 9/11-related illnesses than were killed on the day of the attacks
[verified] Ms Rachel (Rachel Griffin Accurso) was named to Mamdani's inaugural committee and the New York Post labeled her a 'controversial' YouTube star
[verified] Mamdani confirmed he would attend the 9/11 memorial despite the petition, saying he attended last year

The narrative clash

Whether opposition to Mamdani is rooted in religion/Islamophobia or in his policies and associations
Left: Mamdani's announcement comes amid a wave of attacks, some Islamophobic, targeting the 34-year-old democratic socialist, who is the city's first Muslim mayor
Right: It's not about his religion or where he came from. It's about the policies he has today
Whether the memorial ceremony is a private family event or one where politicians normally attend
Left: the memorial ceremony belongs first and foremost to the nearly 3,000 people who were murdered, the families who still live with that loss (framed to exclude Mamdani)
Right: I will be there on Friday at the memorial, just as I was last year
Whether representing a terrorism defendant equates to sharing their views
Left: representing a criminal defendant should not, by itself, be equated with sharing that defendant's beliefs or actions
Right: Critics say that connection makes Clark's role especially insensitive ahead of the 9/11 anniversary

27 sources analyzed

Middle East Eye The Independent NBC New York New York Post The Washington Stand HuffPost CNN South China Morning Post The Telegraph Washington Examiner The Damage Report The Guardian US Gothamist The Center Square Fox News The Damage Report Mediaite BBC The Washington Times NBC News ABC7 New York GB News Time Magazine nyc.gov amNewYork FOX 5 New York the-independent.com

Perspectivity reads the coverage — not just who published it.

Read the full interactive analysis →