They went from the American Dream \u2014 to \u201cDeath to America.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alleged ISIS-loving<\/a>\u00a0wannabe terrorists Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, and Emir Balat, 18, grew up with successful immigrant families in idyllic, white-picket-fence suburban Pennsylvania before they tried to detonate\u00a0IEDs near Gracie Mansion<\/a>, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n Kayumi\u2019s parents even own a gorgeous, $2.25 million home in scenic Newtown, symbolizing the family attaining the American Dream after arriving from Afghanistan decades ago, records show.<\/p>\n The $2.25 million home belonging to alleged Gracie Mansion bomb thrower Ibrahim Kayumi\u2019s parents in Newtown, Pa., seen on March 9, 2026. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n The Balat family lives about 12 miles away, in a\u00a0comfortable 3,200-square-foot, two-story house worth a respectable $653,000 in leafy Langhorne, Penn. His\u00a0parents hailed from Turkey and became naturalized US citizens in 2017, according to Fox News.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve been nothing but sweet and kind and loving,\u201d a neighbor and family friend of the Balats told The Post on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m in shock. I love them. I\u2019ve been in their house, they\u2019re always\u00a0with the\u00a0tea,\u201d she said, adding of Emir, \u201cI knew him when he was younger. He was just a typical kid shoveling\u00a0snow,\u00a0helping. I\u2019m in absolute shock. It\u2019s sad that this is the world we\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n Authorities said the pair \u2014 who allegedly pledged alliagance to ISIS after their arrests \u2014 appeared to have been radicalized online and plotted to detonate deadly homemade bombs at an anti-Muslim protest outside Gracie Mansion on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a planned attack motivated by extremist ideology and inspired by a violent foreign terrorist organization,\u201d NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday, after Balat and Kayumi were hit with a five-count federal complaint charging them with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction.<\/p>\n Kayumi and Balat allegedly traveled from the blissful rows of McMansions in Bucks County to the Big Apple and\u00a0hurled homemade bombs<\/a>\u00a0at racist agitator Jake Lang\u2019s anti-Muslim demonstration outside the mayoral residence on the Upper East Side, where a counter-protest was also taking place Saturday.<\/p>\n Alleged ISIS-inspired terrorists Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, and Emir Balat, 18, tried to bomb Gracie Mansion. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n Their journey into alleged terror shows every\u00a0sign of contrasting<\/a>\u00a0with the pair\u2019s quiet, even well-to-do, upbringing a stone\u2019s throw over New Jersey\u2019s border, as recounted by neighbors, school administrators and records.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not the kind of place you think of when you think Islamic terror,\u201d one neighbor of the Kalumi family, Kathy, said Monday. \u201cThis is Americana, here. It\u2019s middle class, but in the best way.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure where the kid went wrong, but he definitely didn\u2019t pick it up in this neighborhood,\u201d she said. \u201cBut you see that a lot, don\u2019t you, the worst people coming from the nicest places. I guess what indoctrinates you online has nothing to do with location.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Balat still attended Neshaminy High School in Middletown Township, Penn, as a senior when he committed the alleged terrorist act, and was just three credits short of graduating, his attorney said.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the latest on the bombs thrown outside Gracie Mansion<\/p>\n \u201cWe understand that events receiving significant media attention can raise questions for families, staff, and students,\u201d the district\u2019s superintendent, Jason Bowman, wrote in a letter to the school community,\u00a0Gothamist reported<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cAt this time, there is no information indicating any concerns related to our schools.\u201d<\/p>\n Mehmet Isik, a Turkish community liaison in Balat\u2019s neighborhood of Levittown, described Balat\u2019s father as a good member of the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a member of the congregation. He\u2019s a good man, a good member of the community. I\u2019ve known him 25, 30 years,\u201d Isik said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m as shocked as anyone about this. I\u2019ve seen (Emir Balat). He was always respectable, always nice. It\u2019s really surprising.\u201d<\/p>\n Both Balat and Kayumi are US citizens with immigrant parents, law enforcement sources said.<\/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