Two counterprotesters who threw improvised explosive devices toward anti-Muslim protesters during a demonstration outside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s residence on Saturday said they were inspired by the Islamic State extremist group, according to a court complaint.
Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, have been charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS, using a weapon of mass destruction, transporting explosive materials, interstate transportation and receipt of explosives, and unlawful possession of destructive devices in connection with the incident at Gracie Mansion.
What You Need To Know
Two counterprotesters who threw improvised explosive devices toward anti-Muslim protesters during a demonstration outside Gracie Mansion on Saturday said they were inspired by the Islamic State extremist group, according to a court complaint
An automated license plate reader captured the pair entering New York City from New Jersey less than an hour before the attack, according to the complaint
The incident occurred during a “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City” rally organized by far-right activist Jake Lang. The event drew a larger group of counter-demonstrators, according to police
The two men were being held without bail after their arraignment Monday afternoon. They said nothing during the brief proceeding, but Kayumi smirked and looked over at Balat as the judge read part of the complaint that said that they were acting in support of the Islamic State group. Balat stared ahead at the defense table.
According to the complaint, Kayumi blurted out, as he was being arrested Saturday, that “ISIS” was the reason for his conduct. Balat later told authorities that he had pledged allegiance to the extremist group, and Kayumi asserted that he was affiliated with the Islamic State group, the complaint said.
Officers asked Balat whether he was aiming to accomplish something akin to the bombing of the Boston Marathon in 2013, when two pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the finish line, killing three people and wounding hundreds more.
“No, even bigger,” Balat replied, according to the complaint.
At a press conference Monday afternoon, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said their statements made it “clear that this was not random violence.”
“This was a planned attack motivated by extremist ideology and inspired by a violent foreign terrorist organization,” Tisch said.
In a statement, Mamdani said Balat and Kayumi “should be held fully accountable for their actions.”
“We will continue to keep New Yorkers safe,” the mayor said. “We will not tolerate terrorism or violence in our city.”
In court, Kayumi’s lawyer, Michael Arthus, pointed to the extensive publicity surrounding the case and asked that prosecutors avoid saying anything that could prejudice potential jurors.
Balat’s lawyer, Mehdi Essmidi, said outside the court that his client was three classes away from graduating from high school.
An automated license plate reader captured the suspects — both Pennsylvania residents — entering New York City from New Jersey less than an hour before the noontime attack, according to the complaint. Kayumi’s mother filed a missing person report saying she last saw him around 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
The suspects’ vehicle — registered to one of Balat’s relatives — was discovered Sunday a few blocks from where they were arrested.
Meanwhile, police have searched a home in eastern Pennsylvania’s Middletown Township, and a separate federal investigation was underway in nearby Newtown, local police said.
At a press conference earlier in the day, Tisch said the two devices ignited during the protest on Manhattan’s Upper East Side could have caused serious injury or death.
One device was deployed in a crosswalk at East End Avenue and East 87th Street, while the other was set off on the west side of East End Avenue between East 86th and East 87th streets, she said.
“I can confirm this morning that this is being investigated as an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism,” she said. “Preliminary test results determined that these were not hoax devices, nor smoke bombs.”
An NYPD analysis determined that one of the devices contained the substance triacetone triperoxide, a “highly-volatile” homemade explosive also known as TATP, Tisch said.
The NYPD’s investigation led detectives to a black 2010 Honda with New Jersey plates tied to the suspects on East End Avenue between East 81st and 82nd streets, where a third suspicious device was discovered, along with materials “consistent with the first two explosive devices,” the commissioner said.
Police temporarily evacuated the nearby area, as officers removed the device, which ultimately tested negative for explosive material, she said.
Mamdani said Balat and Kayumi traveled from Pennsylvania and “attempted to bring violence to New York City.”
“They are suspected of coming here to commit an act of terrorism. There is video of these two individuals throwing two devices towards the protest,” he said. “The police department has determined that these were improvised explosive devices made to injure, maim or worse.”
“Thanks to the swift and decisive actions of NYPD officers at the scene, both men were immediately taken into custody, and the devices they brought taken off of our streets,” he added.
Mamdani noted that he and his wife, Rama Duwaji, were at the New York Sign Museum in Brooklyn at the time of the protests and not home at Gracie Mansion.
The incident occurred during a “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City” rally organized by far-right activist Jake Lang. The event drew a larger group of counter-demonstrators, according to police.
Mamdani on Monday condemned the rally’s ideology while affirming the right to protest.
“This was a vile protest rooted in white supremacy,” he said. “While I found this protest appalling, I will not waver in my belief that it should be allowed to happen.”
“Ours is a free society where the right to peaceful protest is sacred,” he added. “It does not belong only to those we agree with. It belongs to everyone.”
While Mamdani and Tisch briefed reporters Monday, Lang heckled them from outside the Gracie Mansion gates.
Meanwhile, police searched a home in northeastern Pennsylvania’s Middletown Township, and a separate federal investigation was underway in nearby Newtown, local police said. Both inquiries were related to the incident outside New York’s mayoral residence, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, wrote in a social media post Sunday.
The scene had grown chaotic even before the devices were thrown. Police said one person involved in the anti-Islam protest, Ian McGinnis, 21, was arrested after pepper-spraying counterprotesters. McGinnis, of Philadelphia, was released without bond after pleading not guilty Sunday to assault and aggravated harassment in a New York court, records show. A message seeking comment was left Monday for his attorney.
Three others were taken into custody but were released without charges.
After the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Lang was charged with assaulting an officer with a baseball bat, civil disorder and other crimes. He was later freed from prison as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping act of clemency. Lang recently announced that he is running for U.S. Senate in Florida.
Earlier this year, he organized a rally in Minneapolis in support of Trump’s immigration crackdown, drawing an angry crowd of counterprotesters who quickly chased him away.