{"id":513432,"date":"2026-03-09T18:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T18:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/513432\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T18:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T18:18:08","slug":"throwing-of-explosive-devices-outside-mamdani-residence-was-act-of-isis-inspired-terrorism-officials-say-zohran-mamdani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/513432\/","title":{"rendered":"Throwing of explosive devices outside Mamdani residence was \u2018act of Isis-inspired terrorism\u2019, officials say | Zohran Mamdani"},"content":{"rendered":"

The throwing of two improvised explosive devices \u2013 allegedly by counter-protesters during an anti-Islam demonstration \u2013 outside the residence of New York<\/a> mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> on Saturday was an act of \u201cterrorism\u201d inspired by the Islamic State terror group, officials said on Monday.<\/p>\n

Jessica Tisch, the New York police department (NYPD) commissioner, told reporters at a press conference in Manhattan that two men from Pennsylvania were arrested at the scene \u2013 and that a federal criminal complaint against them would be filed later on Monday.<\/p>\n

The incident took place on Saturday during an anti-Islam protest<\/a> by rightwing agitators outside Gracie Mansion on Manhattan\u2019s upper east side, when Mamdani, the city\u2019s first Muslim mayor, and his family were not at home.<\/p>\n

The devices, which Tisch said contained triacetone triperoxide (TATP), a homemade and highly volatile chemical explosive known as \u201cmother of Satan\u201d, were allegedly thrown by counterprotesters she named as Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, and Emir Balat, 18.<\/p>\n

Neither device exploded, and both were made safe by the NYPD bomb squad.<\/p>\n

Emir Balat flees after throwing a homemade explosive device towards police during a protest organized by far-right influencer Jake Lang in front of Gracie Mansion in New York on 7 March. Photograph: Charly Triballeau\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThese were not hoax devices, nor smoke bombs,\u201d Tisch said. \u201cThey were improvised explosive devices that could have caused serious injury or death.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tisch said she would \u201cbe able to say much more about the investigation and what we have learned in this case\u201d after the complaint against Kayumi and Balat is made public. Nonetheless, Tisch said she could \u201cconfirm that this is being investigated as an act of Isis<\/a>-inspired terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani said the men had \u201ctraveled from Pennsylvania and attempted to bring violence to New York City\u201d. The mayor praised two NYPD officers whose \u201cswift and decisive actions\u201d he said led to the suspects\u2019 prompt arrest as well as the devices being removed safely.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew York City will never tolerate violence, whether from protests or counter-protests,\u201d he said, referring to the Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City demonstration of about 20 people organized by far-right influencer Jake Lang, and dozens more who turned up to oppose it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the counter-protesters met this display of bigotry peacefully with a vision of a city that is welcoming to all, but a few did not.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnti-Muslim bigotry is nothing new to me, nor is it anything new for the one million or so Muslim New Yorkers who know this city as our home. While I found this protest appalling, I will not waver in my belief that it should be allowed to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Six people were arrested at the protest, which the New York Times reported<\/a> featured several violent skirmishes, the throwing of raw eggs, and at least one of Lang\u2019s supporters pepper-spraying a counter-protester.<\/p>\n

Tisch said the NYPD was already on a heightened state of alert for terrorist acts because of the US and Israeli military strikes in Iran that began on 28 February. But Tisch said \u201cwe do not have any information that connects this investigation to what\u2019s going on overseas in Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n

Counterprotester Ibrahim Kayumi is detained by New York police officers outside Gracie Mansion, the official residence of Zohran Mamdani, during an anti-Islam protest in New York City on 7 March. Photograph: Madison Swart\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Tisch added that the investigation was in its preliminary stages. And she said there was nothing so far that suggested the two arrested men had made any threats on social media or announced their intention to travel from Pennsylvania to New York.<\/p>\n

She said a third suspected device \u201cconsistent with the first two explosive devices\u201d was found in a 2010 Honda tied to the suspects and parked nearby. The device was removed by a robot and tested negative for explosives. She said there was no information about a possible third suspect linked to the arrested men.<\/p>\n

Only one of the thrown devices was confirmed to contain TATP, Tisch said, and both were sent to an FBI explosives lab for further testing. The commissioner said the last time an improvised explosive device was used in New York City was a 2017 terrorist attack<\/a> on the Manhattan subway that injured four people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were fortunate that the devices used this weekend did not cause the kind of harm that they were certainly capable of causing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut luck is never a strategy. Devices like these have the potential to cause devastating harm, which is why the NYPD does thorough counter-terrorism investigations and treats every incident of this kind with the highest level of urgency and care, and it is why we remain vigilant.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The throwing of two improvised explosive devices \u2013 allegedly by counter-protesters during an anti-Islam demonstration \u2013 outside the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":513433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-513432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}