{"id":158833,"date":"2026-03-10T04:01:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T04:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/158833\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T04:01:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T04:01:29","slug":"suspected-terrorist-defiantly-flashes-isis-salute-after-hes-busted-for-tossing-explosive-device-near-gracie-mansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/158833\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspected terrorist defiantly flashes ISIS salute after he’s busted for tossing explosive device near Gracie Mansion"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the accused terrorists busted for\u00a0lobbing explosive devices near Gracie Mansion<\/a>\u00a0flashed a sick salute honoring ISIS as he was led in shackles from a police precinct Monday.<\/p>\n

Emir Balat, 18, was seen holding up his right index finger \u2014 a universal salute for the terror group \u2014 and grinning at the press while being led by a cop and an FBI agent.<\/p>\n

Balat, wearing a black T-shirt and beige pants, made the gesture before one of the officers flanking him slapped down his hand.<\/p>\n

Emir Balat was seen holding up his finger, a universal salute for ISIS. Lone Pine Press for NY Post<\/p>\n

ISIS fighters have often used the index finger gesture in their propaganda, and is also used by many Muslims to demonstrate their commitment to monotheism. DOJ<\/p>\n

ISIS fighters have often used the index finger gesture in their propaganda. The gesture is also used by many Muslims to demonstrate their commitment to monotheism.<\/p>\n

Balat, whose parents are reportedly from Turkey but who became naturalized citizens in 2017, was arrested Saturday along with 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi after a homemade \u201cMother of Satan\u201d bomb was\u00a0thrown at protesters outside New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s<\/a> Upper East Side residence.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement sources told The Post that Balat used the Arabic phrase \u201cAllahu Akbar\u201d (God is Great) after his police interview.<\/p>\n

Balat, a student in the\u00a0Neshaminy School District in Pennsylvania, was allegedly recorded on a police body camera after his arrest saying that\u00a0when someone insults the name of the prophet Muhammad, \u201cWe take action,\u201d a law enforcement source said.<\/p>\n

ISIS rebel militant soldiers on the frontline in 2013. ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n

The NYPD and FBI transport Emir Balat, who is holding up his finger as he leaves the police precinct on Monday, March 9, 2026. Lone Pine Press for NY Post<\/p>\n

A courtroom sketch of Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi in Manhattan federal court on March 9, 2026 for their arraignments. Elizabeth Williams via AP<\/p>\n

When asked during his police interview why he carried out the failed attack, Kayumi allegedly said he had done it for ISIS, according to the sources.<\/p>\n

The pair was expected to face federal charges on Monday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed that Saturday\u2019s incident was being treated as an attempted ISIS-inspired terror attack.<\/p>\n

A homemade bomb from the scene upclose. Obtained by the NY Post<\/p>\n

Bolts, nuts, and screws inside one of the homemade explosive devices. Obtained by the NY Post<\/p>\n

Emir Balat holds a homemade explosive device before throwing it towards police during a protest organized by far-right influencer Jake Lang against alleged \u201cIslamification\u201d in front of Gracie Mansion over the weekend. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Balat reportedly grew up in a four-bed two-bath home in the leafy Pennsylvania suburb of Langhorne, worth an estimated $653,000, while his alleged sidekick lived in a $2.25 million six-bedroom home near the New Jersey border.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the latest on the bombs thrown outside Gracie Mansion<\/p>\n

Agents were seen\u00a0raiding Balat\u2019s home<\/a>\u00a0following his arrest, as a \u201cterror investigation\u201d is reportedly underway.<\/p>\n

Emir Balat smirks as he\u2019s led into a police vehicle on Monday, March 9, 2026. Lone Pine Press for NY Post<\/p>\n

Ibrahim Kayumi is handcuffed as he\u2019s escorted out of the police precinct on Monday, March 9, 2026. Lone Pine Press for NY Post<\/p>\n

The two teenagers reportedly made pro-ISIS statements while in police custody, and admitted to watching Islamist terror propaganda videos, federal law enforcement sources\u00a0told Fox News correspondent CB Cotton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Balat is accused of lighting and dropping a \u201cMother of Satan\u201d improvised homemade explosive near the police on Saturday at around 12:30 p.m., according to cops and sources.<\/p>\n

The device, which consisted of a sports drink bottle filled with volatile explosive material TATP, set inside a glass jar surrounded by nuts and bolts,\u00a0could have been fatal if it had detonated, police said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the accused terrorists busted for\u00a0lobbing explosive devices near Gracie Mansion\u00a0flashed a sick salute honoring ISIS as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[32579,8409,13057,75,57,9,11,10,3694,466,58,82],"class_list":["post-158833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-bombs","tag-gracie-mansion","tag-isis","tag-manhattan","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-terrorism","tag-upper-east-side","tag-us-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158833","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=158833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}