The New York Knicks have issued a ‘cease and desist’ letter to Aber Kawas, who once said ‘white supremacy’ was to blame for the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Kawas, a Palestinian-American activist, was thrust into the spotlight last year after receiving Zohran Mamdani’s backing in her run for a Queens state Senate seat.
As part of her campaign, Kawas attempted to win over voters by using a custom-made version of the Knicks logo on stickers – which read: ‘I voted for Aber Kawas’.
As a result, she has now received a ‘cease and desist’ letter from the NBA champions over her use of the stickers throughout her primary run – which ended with her securing the Democratic nomination for a Queens state Senate seat on Tuesday.
According to the New York Post, senior vice president and head of legal for Madison Square Garden Sports, Brian N. Warner, sent the letter to Kawas on Friday night.
According to the outlet, he said: ‘Neither the Knicks nor NBA [Properties] have authorized the Campaign to use Knicks Intellectual Property in any way, including the Unauthorized Advertisements, which are likely to mislead the public into believing that the Campaign is affiliated with or in some way connected with the Knicks.
The New York Knicks have issued a ‘cease and desist’ letter to Aber Kawas
Kawas attempted to win over voters by using a custom-made version of the Knicks logo
‘The Campaign’s activities in this regard constitute, among other things, trademark infringement, trademark dilution, false advertising, false association, and unfair competition,’ the letter continued.
Along with the stickers themselves, Kawas recently promoted the Knicks-inspired branding with a post on X, just days after the Knicks won the NBA championship.
Her post read: ‘Head to the polls and claim your ‘I Voted for Aber Kawas’ champion sticker. Earn bragging rights, make your friends jealous, and let everyone know that you’re part of our movement to fight for the world in the world’s borough.’
The campaign stickers and social media posts featured an orange-and-blue logo identical to the NBA champions’ branding, substituting ‘Knicks’ for ‘Kawas.’
The controversial candidate previously sparked outrage for comments downplaying the 9/11 terrorist attacks as a tragedy a ‘couple of people did.’
‘The system of capitalism and racism and white supremacy and Islamophobia have all been used to colonize lands, to take resources from other people, so this is a long trajectory and we’re just seeing the manifestations of that continuation with 9/11,’ she said at an Asian American Writers’ Workshop in 2017.
Kawas added that ‘a lot of times when people are asking us to respond about, you know, an attack when if you look back historically, a lot of us come from lands that were colonized and where wars were being waged.’
Mamdani himself attempted a similar logo stunt during his mayoral launch in October
Kawas previously sparked outrage for comments downplaying the 9/11 terrorist attacks
‘The idea that we have to apologize for a terror attack that a couple people did and then there is no apology for genocides or slavery is something that I find reprehensible,’ she finished.
Mamdani himself attempted a similar logo stunt during his mayoral launch in October, before pulling his ad after receiving an identical warning from the team.
Billionaire Knicks owner James Dolan has been locked in a tense feud with Mamdani’s administration over recent security measures outside the Garden.
The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives of Kawas’ campaign for comment.
