The New York City Police Department (NYPD) admitted that an “improvised explosive device” was thrown at an anti-Islam protest that took place outside of the New York City (NYC) mayor’s residence.
In a post on X, NYC Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch shared that two people, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, had been “arrested on scene yesterday and are in custody in connection with this matter.” Tisch added that the NYPD Bomb Squad was also conducting an analysis on a second device.
“The NYPD Bomb Squad has conducted a preliminary analysis of a device that was ignited and deployed at a protest yesterday and has determined that it is not a hoax device or a smoke bomb,” Tisch said. “It is, in fact, an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death.”
Fox News’s Bill Melugin revealed that according to “three federal law enforcement sources,” two of the suspects that the NYPD arrested for throwing an IED “after yelling ‘Allahu Akbar’” are reportedly “believed to be U.S. citizens.”
“Per three federal law enforcement sources, the two suspects arrested by NYPD for throwing an IED after yelling ‘Allahu Akbar’ at a protest in NYC yesterday are both believed to be U.S. citizens,” Melugin wrote in a post on X. “Emir Balat & Ibrahim Kayumi are in custody & NYPD confirms it was a real IED.”
The IED was thrown during an anti-Islam protest led by an individual named Jake Lang, outside of Gracie Mansion, according to NBC News:
Two men were taken into custody after at least one of two devices was ignited during an anti-Islam demonstration led by conservative influencer Jake Lang and a counterprotest outside the mansion, which serves as a residence for New York City’s mayor. It was unclear at the time what the devices were and whether they were a danger to the public.
In a post on X, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani labeled Lang as a “white supremacist” and described the protest as being “rooted in bigotry and racism.”
“Yesterday, white supremacist Jake Lang organized a protest outside Gracie Mansion rooted in bigotry and racism,” Mamdani said. “Such hate has no place in New York City. It is an affront to our city’s values and the unity that defines who we are.”
“What followed was even more disturbing,” Mamdani added. “Violence at a protest is never acceptable. The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are.”
