ISIS inspired suspects who threw IED at NYC Gracie Mansion anti-Islam protestor: NYPD
Gracie Mansion counterprotesters accused of throwing IEDs were inspired by ISIS, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday.
Ibraham Kayumi, 19, and Emir Balat, 18, were radicalized and bent on destruction, with two of three devices linked to them containing the signature explosive seen in bombings around the world, Tisch said at a news conference Monday at Gracie Mansion.
The charges against the suspects are not yet clear, although they are expected to include acts of terrorism and bomb-making.
“I can confirm this morning that this matter is being investigated as an act of terrorism inspired by ISIS,” Tisch said.
The suspects were arrested Saturday after allegedly throwing two improvised explosive devices during a controversial clash between Muslim-hating right-wing agitator Jake Lang and his supporters and pro-Muslim counter-protesters.
The homemade explosives were filled with nails, bolts and triacetone triperoxide, or TATP. This substance, known informally as “Satan’s Mother”, is easy to manufacture and has been the hallmark of various suicide attacks.
Third device found in suspects’ car on East End Ave. Sunday wasn’t a blowout, Tisch said.
Tish noted that the last time an IED was used in the city was in 2017, when Akayed Ullah detonated a botched pipe bomb in a subway tunnel beneath the Port Authority bus terminal. Ullah is currently serving a life sentence.
“We were fortunate that the devices used this weekend did not cause the kind of damage that they were certainly capable of causing,” Tisch said.
“But luck is never a strategy. Devices like this have the potential to cause devastating harm, which is why the NYPD conducts counterterrorism investigations and treats every incident of this type with the highest level of urgency – and it’s why we remain vigilant.”
Mayor Mamdani, who was at a Brooklyn museum with his wife at the time of the incident, said that while the city would not tolerate violence, he would never waver in his support for any group, regardless of rhetoric, to protest.
“This was a despicable protest rooted in white supremacy and titled ‘Stop the Muslim Takeover of New York City,’” Mamdani said. “I am New York’s first Muslim mayor. Anti-Muslim intolerance is not new to me or to the million Muslim New Yorkers who know this city as home.”
