FBI Director Kash Patel stated that Bernard Kerik had died after ‘a private battle with illness.’
Bernard Kerik, a former New York City police commissioner who was hailed as a hero after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has died at 69, according to the New York Police Department (NYPD).
The department mourned his passing in a social media post on Thursday.
“For nearly two decades, Kerik served and protected New Yorkers in the NYPD, including helping rebuild the city in the aftermath of 9/11,” it stated. “We offer our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.”
FBI Director Kash Patel stated that Kerik had died after a “private battle with illness.” In his tribute, Patel praised Kerik as “a patriot” and “one of the most courageous public servants this country has ever known.”
“His legacy is not just in the medals or the titles, but in the lives he saved, the city he helped rebuild, and the country he served with honor,” Patel stated. “Rest easy, Commissioner. Your watch has ended, but your impact will never fade.”
Kerik, an Army veteran, served as New York City Department of Correction commissioner under Mayor Rudy Giuliani in 1998, before being appointed police commissioner in 2000.
He oversaw the NYPD’s response, rescue, and recovery efforts after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, before leaving the department in December 2001. He was later nominated by President George W. Bush to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
Kerik withdrew from consideration days later. His having employed an illegal immigrant as a nanny was cited as the reason for his withdrawal.
In 2009, Kerik pleaded guilty to eight felony charges, including tax fraud and providing false information to White House officials during his vetting for the Homeland Security chief position in 2004.
He served four years in prison before being pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2020.
In issuing the pardon, Trump stated that Kerik had “courageously led the New York Police Department’s heroic response to the horrific attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.”
Giuliani paid a heartfelt tribute to Kerik, recalling the former NYPD commissioner’s efforts “during the worst terrorist attack on American soil” and offering his condolences to Kerik’s wife and children.
New York Mayor Eric Adams, a former NYPD officer, said he visited Kerik in the hospital just hours before his passing. Adams said they have been friends for nearly 30 years.
“He was with his loved ones who are in my prayers tonight,” Adams stated in a social media post. “He was a great New Yorker and American. Rest in peace, my friend.”
