Police in New York City confirmed that a counterprotester hurled an improvised explosive device at an anti-Islam demonstration on Saturday. Two individuals are in custody following the incident, which involved far-right activist Jake Lang leading a sparsely attended rally that drew much larger opposition crowds.
NEW YORK CITY — Authorities have confirmed that an object hurled during a weekend confrontation at an anti-Islam rally was an improvised explosive device, according to initial police findings.
The incident occurred Saturday during a demonstration called “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City,” organized by far-right figure Jake Lang near Manhattan Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home. Two individuals remain in police custody related to the altercation.
While Lang’s gathering had few attendees, it attracted a significantly larger group of opposing demonstrators. Among them was someone who hurled a smoking item packed with nuts, bolts, screws and what authorities described as a “hobby fuse,” according to police reports.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch addressed the matter on social media Sunday, stating that bomb squad analysis revealed the item was not a fake device or simple smoke bomb, but rather an “improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death.”
According to Tisch, the explosive burned out just feet away from officers at the scene. She added that the individual who threw the first device then obtained another explosive from a fellow counterprotester, though this second item was dropped and failed to detonate.
Criminal charges remain under consideration for both counterprotesters involved. Tisch indicated that investigators are collaborating with federal prosecutors and FBI agents on the matter.
“Violence at a protest is never acceptable,” Mamdani stated Sunday. “The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are.”
Police also took into custody someone connected to Lang’s demonstration, filing charges including reckless endangerment, assault and unlawful possession of a noxious substance after allegedly using mace against opposing protesters.
Lang previously faced charges for striking a police officer with a baseball bat, civil disorder and additional offenses, though he received clemency under President Donald Trump’s broad pardons for January 6 participants last year. He has recently declared his candidacy for U.S. Senate in Florida.
This year, Lang organized a pro-Trump immigration rally in Minneapolis that quickly dissolved when angry counterprotesters forced him to flee the scene.