Rising Socialist/Communists Islamists in NYC

Socialist congressional candidate confirms relationship with Mamdani's top lawyer

who once represented al Qaeda-linked detainees

Darializa Avila Chevalier, the 32-year-old presumptive Democratic congresswoman backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, has confirmed she is in a romantic relationship with Ramzi Kassem.

Ramzi Kassem is the 48-year-old attorney who serves as Mamdani's chief legal counsel and who previously represented Guantanamo Bay detainees linked to al Qaeda, including one man described as a "close associate" of Osama bin Laden.

The relationship, which became official in 2023, ties together three figures at the center of New York's rising socialist left: a congressional candidate, the mayor who endorsed her, and the lawyer who advises him, all bound by shared activism, overlapping professional work, and now personal romance.

The Washington Free Beacon reported the details of the arrangement, drawing on a statement Chevalier provided to City and State.

The facts raise pointed questions about political entanglement, and about the network of relationships shaping who gets endorsed, who gets hired, and who gets sent to Congress from New York City.

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Ramzi Kassem is a Syrian-born naturalized U.S. citizen with a diverse Middle Eastern, North African, and Circassian heritage. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, during the civil wars, his family later relocated to Baghdad, Iraq, and Damascus, Syria, before he immigrated to the United States. His mixed heritage and upbringing in war-torn regions heavily shaped his worldview and his career.

Kassem is a Paul & Daisy Soros New American Fellow who went on to become a law professor at CUNY School of Law and serve as NYC Chief Counsel...Background in human rights and national security lawLegal career and advocacy workAdvising role in the NYC mayor's administration