Retired law enforcement officers have sent a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, demanding that she not participate in any upcoming events honoring the victims of the September 11, 2001, terror attack.
In the letter, Port Authority Retired Police Association President John McDevitt called out Hochul’s decision to light the One World Trade Center in honor of Muslim American Heritage Month.
“To those of us who served there, your decision to utilize the WTC [World Trade Center] for this purpose was extremely tone-deaf, insensitive, and an affront to us, our families, and all those affected by this attack. Your action displayed neither concern nor reverence for the fallen,” he wrote, as reported by The New York Post. “Because of that insensitive and tone-deaf decision, we believe you have forfeited the privilege of standing alongside us, the 9/11 families, and fellow first responders at Ground Zero on this 25th anniversary.”
McDevitt also sent a letter to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, where he declared that the mayor has not “earned the privilege to stand at Ground Zero alongside us, the families, survivors, and our fellow first responders.”
“Your presence at Ground Zero on 9/11 would cause profound pain to members of the 9/11 community and risk turning a solemn day of remembrance into a political controversy,” the letter added.
A separate petition from 9/11 families also urges Mamdani to be banned from participating in anniversary events. The petition lists concerns regarding Mamdani, including his support for or association with those who have made comments dismissive of American institutions, and links to those holding a radical Islamic ideology. Mamdani has also “endorsed candidates such as Aber Kawas, who described 9/11 as an attack ‘a couple of people did in the context of U.S. capitalism, racism, white supremacy, and Islamophobia,’ and who also expressed sympathy for Ahmed Ferhani, who pleaded guilty to plotting to blow up a Manhattan synagogue.”
