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After a 3 June 2017 attack in London, rumors began circulating almost immediately on social media attempting to smear London mayor Sadiq Khan (a Muslim man) for purportedly defending September 11th terrorists. The claim often appears by itself, providing little to no context to describe how Khan might have defended them: Some versions of the claim held, in part, that Khan represented terrorists as a lawyer — specifically individuals involved in the planning and execution of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In the circulating clip Khan referenced three British men, which should have been a primary clue that it did not have anything to do with the 2001 hijackers. Some versions of this rumor claimed he defended Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen (about whom Khan was clearly not speaking in the video). Moussaoui was one of several people sometimes described as the 20th hijacker, charged and convicted as a conspirator in the attacks in the United States. That claim appeared first in 2016, at which time the Guardian reported Khan's firm did not represent Moussaoui but consulted on his defense. However, that particular video has nothing to do with Khan's purported defense of Moussaoui, or anyone else linked to the 11 September 2001 hijackers or co-conspirators. Khan did not defend Moussaoui (either verbally or in any legal capacity), and the circulating clip was unrelated to claims linking London's mayor to the tragedy. Instead, it dates back to the April 2002 arrests of three British men in Cairo: The erroneous constellation of rumors were not the first attempt to link Mayor Sadiq Khan to the 9/11 attacks. In May 2016, British tabloid the Mirror reported that the far-right nationalist group Britain First attempted to spread similar claims on social media.
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