Federal authorities charged two men Monday in an alleged ISIS-inspired attack during protests outside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s official residence.
A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan said that Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, both referred to ISIS after they were arrested for throwing an improvised explosive device at protesters. One of them allegedly dropped a second device near police officers who were monitoring the protests.
Asked by police whether he intended to replicate the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, Balat reportedly said: “No, even bigger. It was only three deaths.”
Kayumi, according to the complaint, answered with a single word when asked why he participated in the attack: “ISIS.”
He later said he was affiliated with the terrorist group and had watched its propaganda on his phone.
Both men, who authorities say are from Pennsylvania, were charged with attempted provision of material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, use of a weapon of mass destruction and three counts related to the possession and transportation of explosive material.
They brought the explosive material to the street outside Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s residence on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, “with the knowledge and intent that it would be used to kill, injure and intimidate.”
Neither man has entered a plea.
The criminal complaint says Balat told police officers, without prompting, that he was responding to the protesters’ insults to Islam.
“This isn’t a religion that just stands when people talk about the blessed name of the prophet,” he said, according to the complaint.
“We take action!” he said. “We take action!”
“If I didn’t do it,” he allegedly added, “someone else will come and do it.”
Protests turned violent
The alleged bombing attempt occurred Saturday during dueling demonstrations outside Gracie Mansion. An anti-Muslim protest called “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City, organized by far-right activist and white supremacist Jake Lang, drew roughly 20 people, according to police. Lang is among the Jan. 6 defendants pardoned by President Donald Trump last year. He allegedly beat police officers with a baseball bat during the riot in the Capitol. He recently was arrested in Washington on charges of threatening a police officer who formerly worked in the Capitol.
As Lang’s group protested against Mamdani, the first Muslim mayor of New York, counterprotesters gathered nearby, and their numbers quickly grew.
Police separated the groups, but tensions escalated within about an hour.
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New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Sunday that a protester from the Lang group used pepper spray against counterprotesters shortly after noon. Officers arrested that individual.
Minutes later, investigators say a counterprotester lit and threw an ignited device toward the protest area. Witnesses reported seeing flames and smoke as it flew through the air before hitting a barrier and putting itself out near police officers.
(Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty Images)
The suspect then ran south on East End Avenue, where police say he obtained a second device from another man before dropping it nearby.
The criminal complaint contains photographs of a man identified as Balat preparing to throw both devices.
(Photo by Matthew Hoen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Tisch said the device appeared to be a jar wrapped in black tape and packed with bolts, screws and a hobby fuse.
In the criminal complaint, prosecutors said preliminary testing showed the device contained TATP, a volatile explosive material often used in terrorist bombings.
The device did not explode, but police said it had the capacity to cause serious injury or death.
(Photo by Ryan Murphy/Getty Images)
Investigators are conducting additional testing on both devices while examining materials recovered during the investigation. Officers also searched a vehicle connected to the suspects several blocks from the protest site.
(Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Police said a third device was discovered Sunday inside a vehicle a few blocks south of Gracie Mansion. Bomb technicians secured the device while investigators examined whether it was connected to the protest incident.
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Federal authorities join investigation
The FBI and federal prosecutors are now working with the NYPD through the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Federal agents are interviewing the suspects.
Investigators are reviewing electronic devices and conducting searches tied to the case, according to people familiar with the investigation.
(Photo by Ryan Murphy/Getty Images)
Mamdani confirmed Monday that he and his wife weren’t inside Gracie Mansion during the protest. At a news conference, he denounced the group led by Lang, saying they were engaged in “a vile protest rooted in white supremacy.” He also called the attempted bombing as “a heinous act of terrorism” and said those responsible “should be held fully accountable for their actions.”
Lang returned to the street outside Gracie Mansion on Monday, again denouncing Mamdani.
“We support our country, we support the NYPD,” he said. “Mandani is going to destroy this city.”