New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the appointment of pro-Palestinian activist and attorney Ramzi Kassem to the position of Corporation Counsel – the highest legal position in the city government.
Kassem has represented, among others, Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student who led pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus, as well as Ahmed al-Darbi, an al-Qaeda operative who admitted involvement in the attack on a French oil tanker in Yemen. Mamdani justified the choice citing Kassem's experience defending "those abandoned by the justice system."