New York City police said on Monday that a weekend bombing aimed at an anti-Islamic protest outside Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s residence is being investigated as an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism.
“Two men, Amir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, traveled from Pennsylvania and attempted to bring violence to New York City,” Mayor Mamdani said in a March 9 press conference outside the residence.
“They are suspected of coming here to commit an act of terrorism. There is video of these two individuals throwing 2 devices towards the protest. The police department has determined that these were improvised explosive devices made to injure, maim, or worse.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that suspects Balat, 18, and Kayumi, 19, are expected to face federal charges, with a complaint anticipated to be unsealed later on Monday. NYPD has also referred to Ibrahim as having the last name Nick, although in Monday morning’s press conference and on social media, Tisch used Kayumi as the suspect’s last name.
“This is being investigated as an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism,” Tisch said.
She noted earlier that one of the bombs contained nuts, bolts, and screws.
The incident occurred on March 7, outside Gracie Mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, where Mamdani and his wife reside, though neither was home at the time.
Approximately 20 protesters organized by pardoned Jan. 6, 2021, rioter Jake Lang, dubbed the “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City,” had gathered outside the residence. Roughly 125 counterprotesters were present at the protest’s peak, according to police.
Tisch said tensions escalated after a protester from Lang’s group used pepper spray against counterprotesters. Balat then allegedly lit and threw an ignited device toward the protest area, which landed in a crosswalk on East End Avenue, as shown on the NYPD’s Argus surveillance camera network.
Balat allegedly fled before obtaining a second device from Kayumi, which he lit before officers apprehended him. Tisch said witnesses reported seeing flames and smoke before the first device hit a barrier and extinguished itself a few feet from officers.
Preliminary bomb squad analysis, conducted in consultation with FBI special agent bomb technicians and an FBI chemist, determined that the devices were improvised explosive devices (IEDs) capable of causing serious injury or death—not hoax devices or smoke bombs. One device contained triacetone triperoxide, known as TATP, a volatile homemade explosive that has been used in IED attacks globally, Tisch said.
During a subsequent investigation, NYPD detectives found a vehicle connected to the suspects—a black 2010 Honda with New Jersey plates—on East End Avenue between 81st and 82nd streets.
By Chase Smith
