Home-made explosive thrown at Mamdani residence during right-wing protest in New York
WATCH THE VIDEO: Two men who had been watching Islamic State group propaganda have been arrested after the explosive device was thrown at a right wing group.
Federal authorities will lead the investigation into the violence that broke out at a demonstration outside Gracie Mansion - the home of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani - on Saturday, where a counterprotester threw a homemade bomb, three people with knowledge of the matter.
The people also said that the bomb, which failed to detonate but released clouds of smoke, contained shrapnel and was designed to kill or maim.
Emir Balat, 18, of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, the counterprotester accused of throwing that device and another smoking projectile, and Ibrahim Nikk, 19, of Newton, Pennsylvania, who is accused of supplying one of them, were arrested. No explosions or injuries from the devices were reported.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Charges against Balat and Nikk had not been determined yet, police said.
In a brief interview, Nikk’s father, Khayer Kayumi, said his family began to panic Saturday afternoon when Ibrahim did not come home.
“If he’s going to be five minutes late, he calls,” Kayumi said. He said the family had been scouring parking lots, looking for him and fearing the worst.
“Maybe he had killed himself,” he said. “We didn’t know what was going on.”
He said they had spent the night talking to police and declined to comment further.
One of the two young men told investigators that they sympathised with Islamic State group videos they had watched online, two of the people said. He told investigators that their motive had to do with the disrespect that Jake Lang, a far-right provocateur whose demonstration drew the counterprotesters to Gracie Mansion, had shown toward Muslims, one of the people said.
It was unclear whether it was Balat or Nikk who spoke to authorities.
The inquiry is in its early stages, but investigators have not yet found any evidence that indicates the men were tied to any terrorist group.
On Sunday afternoon, local time, officers blocked off a stretch of East End Avenue between East 81st and East 82nd streets, several blocks south of Gracie Mansion, where investigators had located a car belonging to one of the protesters arrested Saturday, police said.
Police officials said the vehicle was connected to the investigation into the explosive devices, but did not provide further details.
One of the people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to disclose details of the investigation, said there were no indications that additional explosive devices were in the car.
A third law enforcement official said investigators found materials to make a bomb inside the car, but did not recover a device.
The protest Saturday began with a plan Jake for a “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City” demonstration near Gracie, the Upper East Side home of New York’s first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
Lang showed up with about 20 followers. As the day wore on, the crowd of counterprotesters shouting at Lang grew to more than 100.
One of Lang’s fellow protesters sprayed Mace at a group of counterprotesters, and fistfights broke out. Then the two smoking objects were thrown.
The investigation will be conducted by the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force, along with federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Authorities were expected to provide more information about the investigation and the incident on Monday, the person said.
