Whenever I see NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch at an event alongside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, I always get the distinct impression that she's grinning and bearing it, as though she'd rather be anywhere else than near the man who has willfully and deliberately made such a mockery of the suffering his city went through during and after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

That certainly seemed to be the case last Friday when Mamdani signed two 9/11-related executive orders at City Hall, and then promptly asked Tisch, who is Jewish, to pass the ceremonial pen on to his chief legal counsel, Ramzi Kassem. The attorney, as RedState previously reported, "spent years representing detainees at Guantánamo Bay" - including Saudi al-Qaeda member Ahmed al-Darbi, who is the brother-in-law of one of the 9/11 terrorists, Khalid al-Mihdhar.

For those who missed the moment, watch:

The New York Post noted in the aftermath of the executive order signings that "Tisch awkwardly handed it to Mamdani’s chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem, who just snuck into the press conference, before she hurried out of the Blue Room — the first official to exit the press conference."

And who could blame her after such a repugnant display from the same mayor who has insisted on attending official remembrance ceremonies on Friday, the 25th anniversary of the attacks, despite pleas from some family members to stay away?

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On Wednesday, however, Tisch had the opportunity to give a speech at an NYPD 9/11 memorial event and, with Mamdani in attendance - sitting nearby - she made the following statement:

Preserving that history also means preserving its moral clarity. The men who attacked this city were terrorists. The men and women who ran into the towers to save innocent lives were heroes. 25 years cannot be allowed to blur that distinction and shame on those who do.

Watch:

She didn't have to say Mamdani's name, nor Kassem's, to conclude that she had them in mind when she firmly stated those words.

Just to emphasize the importance of her taking a stand on this issue, let's take a look back at what Kassem had to say about the 9/11 terrorists just three days after the attacks:

"The resentment these terrorists felt towards the United States was rooted in political realities shaped by our country's policies. Our government has supported dictatorial and repressive regimes across the Middle East and elsewhere for years, in total disregard of the aspirations and better interests of the indigenous populations of those regions. This oppressive political reality is lived by millions, and only an infinitesimal few decide to go to the horrible extremes we had the misfortune of witnessing last week. It is to these populations' credit that they didn't dehumanize us the way we have dehumanized them. Thousands of Palestinians across the West Bank lit candles, grieving in solidarity with Americans, despite the fact that they suffer on daily basis from violence not unlike what we have had to endure, because our government arms the government that occupies their land."

At the time Mamdani appointed Kassem to be chief legal counsel, he proclaimed that "I will turn to Ramzi for his remarkable experience and his commitment to defending those too often abandoned by our legal system," which apparently includes admitted terrorist co-conspirators and terrorist group sympathizers.

Mamdani has also consistently tried to portray Muslims as the real victims of the 9/11 attacks. Case in point: the speech he gave in 2025 as a mayoral nominee about "Islamophobia" after 9/11 and how his purported "auntie" was supposedly too afraid to take the subway "because she did not feel safe in her hijab."

Not surprisingly, his story fell apart quickly after scrutiny, with Mamdani having to clarify that the alleged woman in question wasn't actually his aunt. Incredibly but not surprisingly, he accused those who caught him in the lie of... you guessed it, Islamophobia.

Mamdani has also infamously been anti-police to the extent he repeatedly called for defunding the NYPD... until he began his run for mayor.

I cannot imagine what it must feel like to be a New Yorker who doesn't support him but who has to endure his empty platitudes, moral preening, and insulting twists on the facts about American history and Islamic terrorism -- especially on a somber week like this one.

My hat is off to Commissioner Tisch for finally "going there" - in her own way - in defense of her city and its heroes, all while Mamdani sat stone-faced just a few feet away.  If he's ultimately going to be just a one-term mayor, we need more of this speaking out, not less. Enough is enough.