Two Pennsylvania teenagers who threw homemade explosive devices at a far-right anti-Islam rally outside the New York City mayor’s official residence over the weekend told police they were inspired by the Islamic State (ISIS), New York officials and federal prosecutors said Monday. The incident is being investigated as an “act of ISIS-inspired terrorism,” New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference alongside Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, was not at the residence, Gracie Mansion, during the protest or failed attack.
Who said what
Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, were charged in federal court Monday with using a weapon of mass destruction, transporting explosives across state lines and other crimes. Balat is accused of throwing two jars filled with screws, bolts and a “dangerous and highly volatile homemade explosive that has been used in IED attacks around the world,” Tisch said. Neither bomb ignited.
Under questioning, Kayumi said he had watched ISIS propaganda “and was partly inspired to carry out his actions that day by ISIS,” according to the criminal complaint, while Balat volunteered that he wanted to “carry out an attack bigger than the Boston Marathon bombing.” The two teens are accused of “committing a heinous act of terrorism and proclaiming their allegiance to ISIS,” Mandami said in a statement, and “they should be held fully accountable for their actions.”
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What next?
City officials said there is “no evidence” that the attempted bombing was “linked to the war in Iran,” said NPR. A federal magistrate ordered Balat and Kayumi detained until their next court appearance on April 8.