The truth about the viral 9/11 petition targeting Mamdani

“We don’t have a list”

On Sunday, the New York Post, the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid, ran a story on its cover under this blaring headline: “STAY AWAY: Thousands of 9/11 families demand Mamdani be banned from 25th-Anniversary.”

The New York Post story is about a petition on Change.org started by Giovanni Galante, whose wife Grace Catherine Galante was among the nearly 3,000 victims of the 9/11 attacks. “[W]e, the family members of those murdered on 9/11, write to express our concern regarding the potential inclusion of Zohran Mamdani in the 25th-year commemorative events,” the petition states.

The story went viral on right-wing social media, garnering millions of views on X. Within hours, the story was being featured on Fox News, the cable network that is also owned by Murdoch.

“I can fully understand why the families wouldn’t want him there,” Fox News pundit Tomi Lahren said Sunday. On the same program, Fox News’ Senior National Correspondent Rich Edson suggested that Mamdani could demonstrate “respect” for the families by not showing up. On Fox Business, host Cheryl Casone said she understood the position of the families because Mamdani “does not have much sorrow about 9/11“ and “if it was 25 years ago, he’d be probably supporting the attackers on the World Trade Center.”

But the text of the New York Post article directly contradicts its cover. While the cover says that “thousands of 9/11 families demand Mamdani be banned,” the article itself says the petition “has collected over 1,100 signatures in a little over a week, including from at least 300 victims’ families.”

That “300 victims’ families” claim was initially repeated across right-wing and Jewish press, including RedState, The Times of Israel, The Daily Wire, The Post Millennial, The Jerusalem Post, Just the News, and i24News.

By Monday evening, the story had hit CBS News New York. “Thousands of 9/11 victims' families are asking New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani not to attend this year's solemn remembrance ceremony,” the network reported. After Popular Information reached out for comment, that line was removed. A revised article on the CBS website says the petition has “purportedly drawn thousands of signatures, including some victims' families.”

In an interview with Popular Information, Galante acknowledged that there was no actual list of family members who had signed the petition. “We don’t have a list,” Galante said. Rather, the 300 figure that organizers shared with the New York Post was an estimate based on how they believe the petition spread before it received much publicity. “We all know each other, so…think about it. If you know 10 people and they give it to 10 more people they know that lost. That’s how we got the 300 number,” Galante explained. “I don’t go through the list and look at the names.”

As of Monday afternoon, almost 16,000 people have signed the Change.org petition. Change.org lists these as “verified signatures,” but that verification means the signatures are “from real people” and not bots. Neither Change.org or the petition organizers have verified that 300 or more people who lost a family member on 9/11 have signed the document.

The New York Post article quotes three individuals who lost a family member on 9/11 and have signed the petition. The author of the story, reporter Rich Calder, did not respond to a request for comment.

Galante also provided more detail on his motivation for starting the petition. In the interview, Galante described Mamdani as “a Muslim that has thoughts to get rid of all Jewish people, and to agree with 9/11.” At another point in the interview, Galante claimed Mamdani “believes 9/11 should have happened to us.” (Mamdani has called suggestions that America deserved to be attacked on 9/11 “objectionable and reprehensible.”)

Galante is a registered Republican who donated $250 to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2019.

The petition includes somewhat more staid criticism of Mamdani, suggesting he has not demonstrated a “respect for the victims, recognition of the gravity of the attacks, and a clear rejection of the ideologies that contributed to such violence.”

The petition’s evidence, however, relies primarily on guilt by association. It cites views or remarks by Mamdani’s father, a Brooklyn Imam, and a Congressional candidate. It does not contain any direct quotes from Mamdani himself.

Mamdani was asked about the petition during a Monday press conference and indicated that he planned to attend the 9/11 anniversary ceremony. “I will proudly honor the families, the survivors, the first responders, forever impacted by that horrific terror attack by standing alongside them at this year’s 9/11 commemoration, reaffirming that we will never forget the solemn day felt by all of us who call this city home and, frankly, by all of us who call this country home,” Mamdani said.

Sometime before the anniversary, Galante says the organizers will go to Mamdani’s office to deliver the petition. They will deliver the full list of everyone who signed on Change.org with no designation of which signatories lost a relative on 9/11.

“I can’t separate,” Galante said. “[Change.org] doesn’t give you much information as far as who they are, where they came from.”