Bernard Kerik, head of New York police during 9/11, dies at 69

Bernard Kerik, New York City's former police commissioner during the 11 September 2001 attacks, has died aged 69.

His death was confirmed by FBI Director Kash Patel, who said the former police officer died Thursday after a "private battle with illness."

Kerik oversaw the police response to the deadliest terrorist attack in US history, and was later appointed by former US President George Bush as head of a provisional police force in Iraq.

He pleaded guilty to charges of tax fraud in 2009 and served three years in prison, though he was pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2020.

Those who paid tribute to Kerik include former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was in office when Kerik served as commissioner of the NYPD, and current mayor Eric Adams.

"We've been together since the beginning. He's like my brother," Giuiliani said Thursday on his show.

"I was a better man for having known Bernie," Giuiliani said. "I certainly was a braver and stronger man."

Adams, who had been friends with Kerik for nearly 30 years, said he had visited him in hospital before his death.

"He was with his loved ones who are in my prayers tonight," Adams said in a statement. "He was a great New Yorker and American."

Kerik, a former army veteran and a decorated law enforcement officer, rose up the ranks through his career, and was nearly tapped to run the Department of Homeland Security under Bush in 2004 before he abruptly withdrew his nomination.

In 2009, Kerik pleaded guilty to federal charges after he was accused of lying to investigators about interest-free loans he received from an Israeli billionaire and a New York real estate magnet while he was in public office.

He was granted a full pardon by Trump in 2020, and later joined Giuiliani's efforts to overturn Trump's election loss that same year.