NEW YORK CITY — One of the devices ignited during dueling protests Saturday outside Gracie Mansion has been confirmed as a potentially deadly explosive, according to New York City’s police commissioner.
“The NYPD Bomb Squad has conducted a preliminary analysis of a device that was ignited and deployed at a protest yesterday and has determined that it is not a hoax device or a smoke bomb,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch posted Sunday on Twitter.
“It is, in fact, an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death. Further analysis will be conducted, including on a second device.”
Amir Balat, 18, was arrested during the incident that happened at about 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Tisch previously said. A second man, Ibrahim Nick, 19, was also arrested in connection with the devices, she said.
The incident occurred as tensions escalated between protesters taking part in an anti-Islam demonstration led by conservative influencer Jake Lang that drew about 20 people, and a counterprotest that yielded roughly 125 people, in the area of East End Avenue and 87th Street, Tisch said Saturday.
Balat pulled out the device, which Tisch has described as a jar wrapped in black tape with nuts, bolts and screws, and a hobby fuse that could be lit, about the size of a football. Balat lit the fuse and threw the item toward protesters, but it hit a police barricade and extinguished itself, she said.
Balat then took off running down East End Avenue and Nick handed him a second device that Balat lit, then dropped between 87th and 86th streets, Tisch has said. He was chased and apprehended, she said.
Tisch said Saturday there was no indication the actions were related to U.S. military actions in Iran, but the investigation was ongoing. The New York City Police Department is working on the case with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI.
A person associated with Lang’s protest was also arrested and charged with reckless endangerment, assault and unlawful possession of a noxious matter after allegedly macing counterprotesters, police said.
In total, six people were arrested Saturday during the protests, Tisch has said.
Gracie Mansion, where the demonstrations occurred, is the official residence of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Saturday’s protests took place during the holy month of Ramadan, observed by Muslims around the world. Mamdani is New York City’s first Muslim mayor.
“Yesterday, white supremacist Jake Lang organized a protest outside Gracie Mansion rooted in bigotry and racism,” Mamdani wrote in a social media post Sunday. “Such hate has no place in New York City. It is an affront to our city’s values and the unity that defines who we are.
“What followed was even more disturbing. Violence at a protest is never acceptable. The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.