A device thrown by a counterprotester during a demonstration outside Gracie Mansion was an improvised explosive that could have caused serious injury or death, police said Sunday, as authorities also investigated a second suspicious device found nearby.
The confrontation unfolded Saturday during a “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City” rally led by far-right activist Jake Lang outside the Manhattan residence of Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The event drew a much larger group of counterdemonstrators, police said. During the protest, one counterprotester tossed a smoking object into the crowd.
What You Need To Know
Police say a device thrown by a counterprotester at a protest near Gracie Mansion was an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death
Two counterprotesters, ages 18 and 19, were taken into custody, though charges had not yet been filed
Authorities also investigated a second suspicious device found Sunday in a vehicle nearby, prompting street closures and limited evacuations
The demonstration was organized by far-right activist Jake Lang and drew a much larger group of counterprotesters
In a social media post Sunday, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the department’s bomb squad determined the object was not a hoax device or smoke bomb but an improvised explosive device.
The device extinguished itself steps from police officers, Tisch noted, adding that the same person then received a second device from another counterprotester. That device was dropped and did not appear to ignite.
Authorities said the devices appeared to be jars wrapped in black tape and packed with nuts, bolts and screws, along with a hobby fuse that could be lit.
Two counterprotesters, ages 18 and 19, were taken into custody in connection with the devices, though charges had not yet been filed as of Sunday. Police said they were working with federal prosecutors and the FBI as the investigation continued.
Later Sunday, officers responding to the area near Gracie Mansion discovered a second suspicious device inside a vehicle on East End Avenue between East 81st and East 82nd streets.
Several streets were closed and limited evacuations were ordered as the bomb squad assessed the vehicle and removed the device.
Residents in nearby buildings were temporarily kept from returning home while authorities secured the scene.
“We were told to wait until they removed the car from East End Avenue before going back to our apartment, which I think is the right precaution,” said Upper East Side resident Kristina Kuzmina. “You obviously don’t want to be in the midst of it, and I think it’s important to let law enforcement control the situation without people getting involved and potentially getting hurt.”
Kuzmina said residents waited near East 82nd Street and York Avenue until police gave them the all-clear to return home.
“It’s definitely scary,” she said. “You just wait to hear if it’s safe to go back home. I don’t think they’ve confirmed if it’s an explosive yet, but fingers crossed that it wasn’t because a lot of people live in these areas, so it’s always a frightening thought.”
In a statement Sunday, Mamdani said violence during protests is unacceptable.
“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 mayor said.
Police also arrested a person associated with Lang’s protest and charged them with reckless endangerment, assault and unlawful possession of a noxious substance after they allegedly used mace on counterprotesters.
Lang was previously charged with assaulting an officer with a baseball bat, civil disorder and other crimes before receiving clemency as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping act of clemency for Jan. 6 defendants last year. He recently announced that he is running for U.S. Senate in Florida.
Earlier this year, Lang organized a rally in Minneapolis in support of Trump’s immigration crackdown, drawing an angry crowd of counterprotesters that quickly chased him away.