NYPD Investigates ‘ISIS-Inspired’ Bomb Attack After IEDs Thrown at NYC Mayor’s Home
Two explosive devices thrown during a protest outside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s residence are now being investigated as a possible terrorism case.
Police say the devices were ignited and thrown during chaotic clashes outside Gracie Mansion, raising new security concerns around the city’s first Muslim mayor.
The incident happened Saturday during an anti-Islam protest organized by activist Jake Lang that drew a larger counter-protest outside the mayor’s Upper East Side residence. According to ABC News and the NYPD, two men allegedly brought homemade explosives and threw them during the confrontation.
Authorities later determined the devices contained TATP, a highly volatile explosive compound that officials say could have caused severe injuries or death if detonated.
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“These were not hoax devices or smoke bombs,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. “They were improvised explosive devices.”
Police arrested two suspects identified as Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, both from Pennsylvania, who investigators say traveled to New York before the protest. Federal prosecutors are expected to pursue charges as the investigation expands.
Officials told reporters the suspects had allegedly viewed ISIS propaganda videos prior to the attack, prompting authorities to examine the case as possible ISIS-inspired terrorism, though investigators say there is no confirmed link to foreign terror groups so far.
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The explosives were thrown during dueling demonstrations outside the mayor’s residence after tensions escalated between protest groups, including an earlier pepper-spray incident during the rally.
Federal authorities including the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force are now assisting the NYPD, while forensic testing on the devices continues at federal laboratories.
For now, investigators say the focus is determining how the suspects obtained the explosives and whether anyone else was involved.
No injuries were reported, but officials say the investigation is ongoing.
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