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NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Sources from Associated Press say that two men suspected of bringing explosives<\/a>\u00a0to a protest outside New York City\u2019s mayoral mansion were in custody Monday, as authorities probed whether the suspects were inspired by the Islamic State extremist group, the police commissioner said.<\/p>\n No charges had yet been brought against the men, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, but federal prosecutors and police planned a news conference later in the day. In the meantime, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a morning news conference that the explosives episode \u201cis being investigated as an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism,\u201d using an acronym for the Islamic State group.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, police searched a home in northeastern Pennsylvania\u2019s 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\u2019s mayoral residence, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, wrote in a\u00a0social media post<\/a> Sunday.<\/p>\n The homemade devices,\u00a0which did not explode,<\/a> were hurled Saturday during raucous counterprotests against an anti-Islamic demonstration led by Jake Lang, a far-right activist and critic of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat and the first Muslim to hold the office. Mamdani and his wife weren\u2019t at the house, called Gracie Mansion, at the time.<\/p>\n Speaking outside the residence Monday morning, Mamdani said Balat and Kayumi \u201ctraveled from Pennsylvania and attempted to bring violence to New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t immediately clear whether 18-year-old Balat or 19-year-old Kayumi have attorneys who can speak to the accusations. Attempts to reach their families were not immediately successful.<\/p>\n Tisch said there are no indications that the men\u2019s alleged activities were connected to the ongoing\u00a0war in Iran<\/a>. She declined to say more about why authorities believe the suspects were motivated by the Islamic State group, a Sunni extremist group. Iran\u2019s population is almost entirely Shiite, the other main religious community within Islam.<\/p>\n While Mamdani and Tisch briefed reporters Monday, Lang heckled from outside the Gracie Mansion gates.<\/p>\n Lang\u2019s sparsely attended protest Saturday drew a far larger group of counterdemonstrators, including one person who police say tossed a smoking object containing nuts, bolts, screws and a \u201chobby fuse\u201d into the crowd.<\/p>\n The device extinguished itself steps from police officers, Tisch noted. The same person who threw it then dropped a second device that did not appear to ignite, the commissioner said.<\/p>\n 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. A message seeking comment was left for an attorney for McGinnis.<\/p>\n Three others were taken into custody but were released without charges.<\/p>\n After the\u00a0Jan. 6 insurrection<\/a>\u00a0at 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\u00a0President Donald Trump\u2019s sweeping act of clemency<\/a>. Lang recently announced that he is running for U.S. Senate in Florida.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, he organized a rally in Minneapolis in support of Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown, drawing an\u00a0angry crowd of counterprotesters<\/a>\u00a0who quickly chased him away.<\/p>\n For 24\/7 news and updates, follow us on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0X<\/a>.\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tTags: Associated<\/a>, Columbus<\/a>, county<\/a>, lowndes<\/a>, Mississippi<\/a>, national<\/a>, news<\/a>, o Local<\/a>, of<\/a>, press<\/a>, state<\/a>
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