What We Know So Far About Explosive Devices Ignited Near Mamdani’s Home
What We Know So Far About Explosive Devices Ignited Near Mamdani’s Home
Chad de GuzmanMon, March 9, 2026 at 5:38 PM UTC
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Two men accused of throwing homemade bombs during a clash between far-right demonstrators and counterprotesters outside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s official residence on Saturday said they were inspired by ISIS, according to a court complaint.
Federal prosecutors charged Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi on Monday with attempting to support a terrorist organization and the use of a weapon of mass destruction. The men are awaiting arraignment in federal court Monday afternoon.
According to the complaint, Kayumi, 19, said that ISIS was the reason for his actions and later told authorities that he was affiliated with the Islamic State extremist group. Balat, 18, also told authorities that he had pledged allegiance to the terrorist group, per the complaint.
When asked if he intended to carry out an attack similar to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, in which two bombs killed three people at the finish line and injured hundreds of others, Balat responded, “No, even bigger,” the complaint reads.
Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch earlier on Monday said that the incident was being investigated as “an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism.”
Tisch also said at a news conference on Monday that at least one of the devices, neither of which exploded, contained “a dangerous and highly volatile homemade explosive that has been used in IED attacks around the world” called TATP, or triacetone triperoxide.
Speaking outside Gracie Mansion on Monday alongside Tisch, Mamdani said that the two devices thrown at the protests were “meant to injure, maim, or worse,” while a third was found inside a vehicle near the scene of the protest. Tisch said the third device did not contain explosive material.
A preliminary analysis by the New York Police Department’s bomb squad had previously determined that one of the devices was “not a hoax device or a smoke bomb” but an improvised explosive that “could have caused serious injury or death,” Tisch said on Sunday. Two men were arrested at the scene, the commissioner said.
The FBI said in a Sunday statement that its Joint Terrorism Task Force was assisting city police and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York with the investigation.
The incident occurred during a skirmish between counterprotesters and an anti-Islam protest led by far-right activist Jake Lang outside Gracie Mansion. Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, on Monday called the demonstration “vile” and “rooted in white supremacy.”
He added, however, that “While I found this protest appalling, I will not waver in my belief that it should be allowed to happen. I will defend that right every day I am mayor, even when those protesting say things that I abhor."
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Mamdani was at home with his wife Rama Duwaji at the time of the incident. “Violence at a protest is never acceptable,” the mayor said in a statement Sunday, calling the attempt to use an explosive device “not only criminal” but also “reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are.” Mamdani added that his administration was monitoring the situation.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul thanked first responders to the incident on X and added: “There is no place for violence of any kind in our State and those responsible for this cowardly act will be held accountable.”
Here’s what we know so far.
What happened?
Police have accused a counterprotester, identified as Emir Balat, 18, of throwing an ignited device toward the protest area at around 12:38 p.m on Saturday. The device, Tisch said at a Saturday news conference, was smaller than a football and appeared to be a jar wrapped in black tape that contained nuts, bolts, and screws, along with a hobby fuse that could be lit. Witnesses reported seeing flames and smoke when it flew, but the device “struck a barrier and extinguished itself a few feet from police officers,” Tisch added.
A homemade explosive device is seen on the ground after clashes between counterprotesters and demonstrators led by far-right influencer Jake Lang outside Gracie Mansion in New York City, U.S., on March 7, 2025.Matthew Hoen—NurPhoto/Getty Images
Balat was arrested along with another man, Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, who is accused of supplying one of the projectiles, police said. No one was injured and charges have not yet been laid against the pair. Tisch said that charges against the men would be released later on Monday.
Four other protesters were also arrested, including Ian McGinnis, 21, who was accused of using pepper spray against the counterprotesters.
As the investigation continued on Sunday, the NYPD said they had identified a suspicious device in a vehicle on East End Avenue between 81st Street and 82nd Street, prompting an evacuation of nearby buildings. Police removed the device safely a few hours later, and the area was reopened.
What do we know about those linked to the bomb?
CBS News reported that Balat, a U.S. citizen, lived with his parents in Pennsylvania. Balat’s parents were born in Turkey and were naturalized as U.S. citizens in 2017. Meanwhile, Kayumi’s parents were reportedly originally from Afghanistan, becoming naturalized citizens in 2004 and 2009.
ABC-operated WPVI-TV reported that FBI agents raided the homes of Kayumi and Balat in Newtown and Langhorne, respectively, both in Bucks County, Pa.
Speaking to the New York Times, Kayumi’s father Khayer Kayumi said they began searching for their son after he did not return home on Saturday afternoon. “If he’s going to be five minutes late, he calls,” the older Kayumi said. “We didn’t know what was going on.”
Contact us at letters@time.com.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
