{"id":159941,"date":"2026-03-11T01:56:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T01:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/159941\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T01:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T01:56:08","slug":"accused-isis-plotter-bought-fireworks-fuse-days-before-nyc-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/159941\/","title":{"rendered":"Accused ISIS plotter bought fireworks fuse days before NYC attack"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n  <\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\">BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. \u2014 One of two Pennsylvania men accused of plotting an ISIS-inspired terror attack in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/new-york-city\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">New York City<\/a> bought a fireworks fuse at a suburban Pennsylvania store just days before allegedly hurling explosive devices at protesters outside Gracie Mansion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\">Emir Balat, 18, of Langhorne, purchased a 20-foot roll of consumer safety fuse from Phantom Fireworks in Penndel on March 2, according to the retailer and surveillance footage obtained by Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n<p>The purchase came two days after the U.S. and Israel launched <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/politics\/defense\/wars\/war-with-iran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">strikes on Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Video shows Balat pulling into the store\u2019s parking lot and walking inside. He briefly moves out of camera view before returning to the counter with the fuse, speaking with a retail associate and completing the $6.89 purchase in a checkout lane.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/warrants-served-new-jersey-pennsylvania-feds-look-possible-nyc-terrorism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">WARRANTS SERVED IN NEW JERSEY, PENNSYLVANIA AS FEDS LOOK INTO POSSIBLE NYC TERRORISM<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/emir-balat-buys-fireworks-in-pennsylvania-01.jpg\" alt=\"Emir Balat at a fireworks store checking out\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Surveillance camera footage shows Emir Balat buying a fireworks fuse in Pennsylvania on March 2. (Footage courtesy of Phantom Fireworks)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The single item purchased was a 20 ft. length of consumer fireworks safety fuse,&#8221; Phantom Fireworks Vice President and General Counsel William Weimer told Fox News Digital. &#8220;The total spend was $6.89 including tax.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Five days later, Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi of Newtown, allegedly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/nypd-confirms-improvised-explosive-device-thrown-protests-near-gracie-mansion-manhattan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">threw live explosive devices<\/a> into a protest outside the official residence of New York City Mayor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/zohran-mamdani\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Zohran Mamdani<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The event, titled &#8220;Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City: Stop New York City Public Muslim Prayer,&#8221; drew about 20 participants.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/cnn-torched-over-bizarre-post-about-pennsylvania-teenagers-charged-throwing-bombs-nyc-protest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">CNN TORCHED OVER &#8216;BIZARRE&#8217; POST ABOUT PENNSYLVANIA TEENAGERS CHARGED WITH THROWING BOMBS AT A NYC PROTEST<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/emir-balat-buys-fireworks-in-pennsylvania-02.jpg\" alt=\"Emir Balat at the front counter of a fireworks store\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Surveillance camera footage shows Emir Balat buying a fireworks fuse in Pennsylvania on March 2. (Footage courtesy of Phantom Fireworks)<\/p>\n<p>A counter-protest, &#8220;Run the Nazis out of New York City: Stand Against Hate,&#8221; drew roughly 125 people at its peak.<\/p>\n<p>Despite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/crime\/police-and-law-enforcement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">NYPD officers<\/a> separating the groups into designated areas, tensions escalated shortly before noon when a protester linked to Lang used pepper spray on counter-protesters, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. Officers investigated for &#8220;a period of time&#8221; before making an arrest.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/storage-facility-raided-feds-investigate-alleged-isis-inspired-nyc-bomb-throwers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">STORAGE FACILITY RAIDED AS FEDS INVESTIGATE ALLEGED ISIS-INSPIRED NYC BOMB THROWERS<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773194168_76_gettyimages-2264701852.jpg\" alt=\"Emir Balat flees after throwing a homemade explosive device towards police\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Emir Balat flees after allegedly throwing a homemade explosive device towards police during a protest in front of Gracie Mansion in New York City, Saturday. \u00a0 (Charly Triballeau \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>About 30 minutes later, Balat allegedly threw an &#8220;ignited device&#8221; that landed on the East 87th Street and East End Avenue crosswalk. Witnesses reported flames and smoke as it traveled through the air, struck a barrier and burned out feet from police officers.<\/p>\n<p>Balat then ran south on East End Avenue, took a second device from Kayumi, lit it and fled before dropping it between East 86th and East 87th streets. Police took both men into custody.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The defendants now face <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/terror\/counter-terrorism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">five federal charges<\/a> \u2014 attempted provision of material support 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<p>Fox News Digital\u2019s Alexandra Koch and Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<p>Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n<p>Story tips and ideas can be sent to Greg.Wehner@Fox.com and on Twitter @GregWehner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. \u2014 One of two Pennsylvania men accused&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[7080,1026,9,24,56,63,65,64,3909,3286,3694,618],"class_list":{"0":"post-159941","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-bombings","9":"tag-crime-world","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-ny","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-nyc-headlines","15":"tag-nyc-news","16":"tag-pennsylvania","17":"tag-police-and-law-enforcement","18":"tag-terrorism","19":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159941","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=159941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}