A photo from the ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks sparked strong reactions, in which New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are seen laughing while relatives of the victims were reading the names of those who lost their lives.

The two Democratic politicians were at the official memorial ceremony at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan on Friday, along with relatives of the victims and politicians from across the United States.

As the names of the deceased were being read, the camera captured Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez chatting and then bursting into laughter.

AOC and Mamdani were seen laughing together as the names of 9/11 victims were read at Ground Zero. pic.twitter.com/P7eOHVGpBs

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) September 11, 2026

A few seconds earlier, the television broadcast had shown a victim’s relative crying, while on stage families continued to read the names one by one.

The video does not reveal what was said between Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez, nor what prompted their reaction, but the timing of the clip sparked a wave of criticism.

Ted Cruz’s Reaction

The clip spread quickly on social media, with many users describing their behavior as offensive to the victims’ families.

Among those who reacted was Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz.

“How on earth can you laugh while the names of those murdered on September 11 are being read aloud? Why would you do that?” he wrote in a post on X.

How the hell do you laugh while the names of those murdered on 9/11 are being read aloud?

Why would you do so? https://t.co/gOec2hA8Lo

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 11, 2026

The incident added to an already highly charged atmosphere surrounding Mamdani’s presence at this year’s memorial events.

The Awkward Encounter with Rudy Giuliani

At the same ceremony, Mamdani also had a brief, visibly awkward encounter with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

The two men shook hands at Ground Zero, just a few days after their public dispute over whether Mamdani should attend the anniversary.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani shook hands at Ground Zero on Friday during the ceremony marking 25 years since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The interaction came days after Giuliani publicly criticized Mamdani’s plans to attend the ceremony and said… pic.twitter.com/kcPJpvHrZ9

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— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 11, 2026

Giuliani, who was mayor of the city when the September 11, 2001, attacks occurred, had told Newsmax that Mamdani’s presence at the ceremony “offends him,” arguing that the current mayor was upsetting the people at the heart of the day of remembrance—namely, the victims’ families.

He had even accused Mamdani of “standing in direct support of the movement that killed their children,” in a statement that, in turn, sparked strong reactions.

The 170,000 documents on toxic air after September 11

Amid this climate, the Mamdani administration proceeded to release more than 170,000 pages of documents regarding air quality in Lower Manhattan following the collapse of the Twin Towers.

The records, which had been withheld from the public for years, include data on the dangers posed by the toxic particles that blanketed the area after the attacks.

According to the information that has come to light, city officials were aware that there were serious health risks, even as the public was assured that the air was safe.

The issue carries particular political weight, as Giuliani was at the helm of New York City at the time, and the handling of air quality information has been a subject of controversy for years.

Over 100,000 signatures calling for his exclusion

Mamdani’s presence at the ceremony had already sparked reactions before September 11.

Relatives of victims and other citizens had supported an online petition calling on the mayor not to attend the memorial events, with the petition garnering over 100,000 signatures.

Former New York Governor George Pataki had also joined the calls, while Mamdani had made it clear that he would not be absent.

As he had stated, his wish was “for attention to be focused on the families of those who lost their loved ones 25 years ago in the horrific terrorist attack of September 11.”

Vicki Paladino and the Reference to Osama bin Laden

New York City Republican Councilwoman Vicky Paladino also launched a harsh attack on Mamdani, who publicly demanded that the mayor not appear at Ground Zero.

Speaking on Laura Ingraham’s show on Fox News, Paladino argued that Mamdani’s presence at the ceremony would, in her view, send a symbolic “message” to Osama bin Laden.

“It’s a message to Osama bin Laden that ‘look, we’ve conquered New York,’” she said pointedly, sparking fresh backlash.

Paladino also linked her criticism to the presence of Ramzi Kassem, the city’s chief legal counsel, at a recent signing ceremony for executive orders related to September 11.

“I’m sick of all this,” she said, adding that, in her view, New Yorkers should “see through this absolute farce they’re trying to sell them.”

The Case of the Commemorative Pen and Ramzi Kassem

One of the ceremonial pens used to sign two executive orders related to the anniversary came under particular scrutiny.

Mamdani handed one of the pens to New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tees, who then gave it to Ramzi Kassem.

Kasem had previously been part of the legal defense team for Ahmed al-Darbi, an al-Qaeda member who had pleaded guilty to charges related to plans to attack commercial ships.

Al-Darbi was the brother-in-law of Khalid al-Mikhdhar, one of the hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

City Hall, for its part, noted that Kassem participated in the event as part of his official duties and that, as a New Yorker who was in the city on the day of the attacks, he had a personal interest in these specific initiatives.

Despite calls for him to stay away and the wave of backlash that had preceded it, Mamdani ultimately made an appearance at Ground Zero, where the 25th anniversary of the attacks was marked not only by the memory of the nearly 3,000 people who were killed, but also by a heated political controversy surrounding the mayor’s presence.

Source: Proto Thema