{"id":158381,"date":"2026-03-09T20:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/158381\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:38:11","slug":"suspect-in-nyc-terror-probe-planned-attack-bigger-than-the-boston-marathon-bombing-prosecutors-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/158381\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspect in NYC terror probe planned attack \u2018bigger than the Boston Marathon bombing,\u2019 prosecutors say"},"content":{"rendered":"

A suspect in the New York City terror protest attack near Gracie Mansion, the residence of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, allegedly planned an assault \u201cbigger than the Boston Marathon bombing<\/a>,\u201d federal prosecutors said in a criminal complaint Monday.<\/p>\n

Emir Balat allegedly made the statement after his arrest. Prosecutors say he told investigators that he and co-defendant Ibrahim Kayumi wanted to stage an attack exceeding the 2013 bombing<\/a> that killed three people and injured more than 500 others.<\/p>\n

The complaint alleges that on Saturday, Balat and Kayumi attempted to detonate two apparent explosive devices during a<\/a> \u201cStop the Islamic Takeover of New York City\u201d protest and counter-protest near Mamdani\u2019s residence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Preliminary testing indicates that at least one device contained triacetone triperoxide (TATP), a highly volatile explosive used in multiple terrorist attacks over the past decade.<\/p>\n

WARRANTS SERVED IN NEW JERSEY, PENNSYLVANIA AS FEDS LOOK INTO POSSIBLE NYC TERRORISM<\/a><\/p>\n

Both men allegedly made statements referencing ISIS<\/a>, with Kayumi captured on NYPD bodycam footage responding \u201cISIS\u201d when asked why he carried out the attack, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said Balat also later wrote on a piece of paper that he \u201cpledge[d] allegiance [sic] to the Islamic State.\u201d<\/p>\n

VIDEO SHOWS NYPD TACKLING MAN WHO ALLEGEDLY THREW \u2018IGNITED DEVICE\u2019 NEAR NYC MAYOR\u2019S HOME DURING PROTEST CLASH<\/a><\/p>\n

The two defendants face five federal charges<\/a>: attempted provision of material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization; use of a weapon of mass destruction; transportation of explosive materials; interstate transportation and receipt of explosives; and unlawful possession of destructive devices.<\/p>\n

Balat and Kayumi appeared in handcuffs and shackles at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in downtown Manhattan on Monday.<\/p>\n

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 8.<\/p>\n

Following a NYPD and Justice Department news conference announcing the indictments against Balat and Kayumi, Mamdani confirmed the charges against the men in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEmir Balat and\u00a0Ibrahim Kayumi have been charged with committing a heinous act of terrorism and proclaiming their allegiance to ISIS,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cThey should be held fully accountable for their actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to keep New Yorkers safe. We will not tolerate terrorism or violence in our city.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A suspect in the New York City terror protest attack near Gracie Mansion, the residence of Mayor Zohran…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,56,63,65,64],"class_list":{"0":"post-158381","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-ny","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-nyc-headlines","12":"tag-nyc-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}