Investigators are treating a chaotic incident where two men allegedly attempted to detonate homemade bombs during a protest near Gracie Mansion over the weekend as an \u201cact of ISIS-inspired terrorism,\u201d Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday.<\/p>\n
The commissioner said the two suspects, 18-year-old Emir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi, both from Pennsylvania, will be charged in federal court in Manhattan on Monday afternoon. She declined to comment further on the charges or investigation.<\/p>\n
Police arrested Balat and Kayumi<\/a> as part of a federal-led investigation after someone threw a homemade explosive device during a Saturday protest near Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side. Law enforcement officials recovered a second explosive device nearby. Officials described both devices as jars containing nuts, screws and bolts.<\/p>\n Tisch spoke at a briefing with Mayor Zohran Mamdani outside Gracie Mansion on Monday morning. The mayor condemned the anti-Muslim protest<\/a> organized by far-right activist Jake Lang where the attack occurred during a confrontation with counterprotesters.<\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s protest created a tense confrontation, where Lang, who brought a goat and around 20 supporters dressed in \u201cFreedom\u201d sweatshirts, were met with about 125 counterprotesters.<\/p>\n Mamdani said the two arrested men had \u201cattempted to bring violence to New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n He also condemned the sentiment behind the Lang-led protest while defending the protesters\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a vile protest rooted in white supremacy,\u201d said Mamdani, the city\u2019s first Muslim mayor. \u201cWhile I found this protest appalling, I will not waver in my belief that it should be allowed to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n He said that with the exception of the arrested men, many of the people in the crowd of counterprotesters were peaceful.<\/p>\n Both Mamdani and Tisch expressed gratitude to the NYPD. They were joined at the press conference by Assistant Chief Aaron Edwards and Sgt. Luis Navarro, who officials said both ran toward one of the ignited explosive devices.<\/p>\n The mayor and First Lady Rama Duwaji were not home during the attack, according to officials. Mamdani said the couple knew about the protest weeks in advance and were spending the day at the New York City Sign Museum in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n The FBI\u2019s New York office declined to comment early Monday, referring to its previous statements about the incident. In a post on X<\/a> on Sunday night, the bureau said it was working with the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies to investigate the two suspicious devices used near Gracie Mansion on Saturday and had confirmed they were \u201cimproved explosive devices.\u201d<\/p>\n