Two in custody after 'suspicious devices' found outside Gracie Mansion amid anti-Islam protest
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Two people were taken into custody after a pair "suspicious devices" were ignited Saturday during protests outside of Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor of New York City.
The incident occurred as an anti-Islam demonstration led by conservative influencer Jake Lang and a counterprotest were underway, police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters. An NYPD spokesperson said there were no injuries.
Tisch said earlier that she did not believe Mayor Zohran Mamdani or first lady Rama Duwaji were inside the mansion at the time, but the police department clarified Saturday night that Mamdani was in the residence. Mamdani spokesperson Joe Calvello said the mayor and his wife were safe.
"Thankfully, the Mayor and the First Lady are both safe, though the events are a stark reminder of the threats they both face regularly," Calvello said in a statement.
A bomb squad examined the devices, described as being smaller than a football, and said they appeared to be a jar wrapped in black tape with nuts, bolts, screws and a hobby fuse, Tisch said.
"We do not yet know whether the devices were functional, improvised explosive devices or hoax devices, because we don't yet know if there was energetic material contained in them," Tisch said.
Both devices were being transported for further testing and analysis.
The Lang-led protest, called "Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City, Stop New York City Public Muslim Prayer," drew 20 participants, Tisch said. The counterprotest, "Run the Nazis out of New York City, Stand Against Hate," drew 125 demonstrators at its peak, the commissioner said.
The protests started around 11 a.m., with both groups separated into designated areas by police, but tensions escalated shortly before noon, officials said.
At 12:15 p.m., one protester from the Lang group fired pepper spray at counterprotesters and was arrested, Tisch said.
Shortly after 12:30 p.m., an 18-year-old counterprotester "lit and threw an ignited device toward the protest area," she said.
It landed in the crosswalk and witnesses "reported seeing flames and smoke as it traveled through the air," she said. The device struck a barrier and extinguished itself a few feet from police officers.
The counterprotesterthen ran and retrieved a second device from a 19-year-old man, according to police. The 18-year-old lit the device and ran with it, then dropped it on the west side of East End Avenue between East 86th and East 87th streets, Tisch said.
Both individuals were taken into custody. The NYPD said no charges had been filed as of Saturday evening.
The men are from Pennsylvania, and law enforcement officials were headed there to speak to their relatives and contacts, sources familiar with the investigation told NBC New York.
Tisch said the whole incident was captured on an NYPD surveillance camera.
She said there was no immediate indication the incident "is related to the ongoing hostilities in Iran" but said the investigation is still ongoing.
The FBI's joint terrorism task force has joined the investigation, sources familiar with the probe told NBC New York.
After the devices were seen, officers established a safety perimeter and launched a search, including K-9 sweeps and manual canvassing, for potential additional devices. None had been found as of Saturday evening.
Overall, six people were arrested as a result of Saturday's protest — the two men "responsible for handling and deploying the devices," the person who deployed pepper spray and three others related to disorderly conduct and obstructing traffic, Tisch said.
Mamdani is New York City's first Muslim mayor. The protest was held during the holy month of Ramadan, which is observed by Muslims around the world.
Calvello condemned the Lang-led protest as "despicable and Islamophobic." He said the mayor has spoken with Tisch and that the NYPD is actively investigating the protest, counterprotest and the suspicious devices outside Gracie Mansion.
Lang could not immediately be reached for comment.
Lang, a right-wing provocateur who was pardoned for charges tied to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, has held similar rallies in recent weeks.
He also hosted an anti-immigration protest in Minneapolis in January in the days after the killing of Renee Good. Good, 37, was fatally shot by a federal immigration officer, prompting national outrage. Ahead of the rally, Lang promised to burn a Quran at the site of the demonstration but did not appear to do so.
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Possibly the most misleading headline of all time. The bias is out of control.
the suspicious devices’ were hurled by Muslim men who yelled ‘allah akbar’ at a crowd.. They weren’t ‘found outside’ Gracie Mansion. They contained screws and bolts and could have caused mass casualties if correctly built.
that's not in the story so I believe you need to back up that claim
What's it like to feel so optimistic about things?
Not sure about what they yelled at the time, but it's definitely an Islamic terror attack.
"Kuffar" is apparently the Arabic word for "infidels".
frustrating
You should be r frustrated if you rely on biased left wing news sources for your information. They treat you like a puppet, the videos are easily accessible online.
Don't know why MSDNC or CNN did not tell you (well, yes we do), but here is the ACTUAL video of the ISIS inspired terrorist throwing one of two IEDs
Video Captures Moment Man Throws IED During Protest Outside NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani's Residence
BREAKING: Suspect screams ‘Allahu Akbar’ after explosive device thrown at anti-Muslim protest in NYC: report | The Post Millennial | thepostmillennial.com
So film 1 doesn't even show the guys face long enough for a positive ID but he does throw what
film 2 describes multiple times as a smoke bomb, not an IED, while being tackled, handcuffed and arrested he keeps saying fascist with a weird accent/pronunciation
and doesn't start "praying" allah akbar " until they are jaming him into the patrol car.
But film 2 appears to be a person wearing different clothes.
Great work by the NYPD, by the way, great job.
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"Both individuals were taken into custody. The NYPD said no charges had been filed as of Saturday evening."
It will be interesting to see how Mamdani justifies letting them go
More than likely he will claim it was simply a couple of over exuberant teens and nothing to be excited about. And most of his supporters will simply nod their heads in agreement.
He could always give the republican response and just call them tourists....
He could, but he would finish your sentence with "and friends of mine".
BTW...CNN must have heard your call because they essentially did exactly that
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. It is, in fact, an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death.
going to be difficult…but he’ll find a way after attention fades.
“Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City, Stop New York City Public Muslim Prayer” protest: 20 participants
"Run the Nazis out of New York City, Stand Against Hate” counterprotest: 125 demonstrators
When 20 people show up to support your advertised and permitted protest, only to be outnumbered 6 to 1 by counterprotesters, it’s a sign your protest should go fuck itself.
So that justifies throwing IED's at people?
Islamic terrorists throw IED's at peaceful protesters, left wing media and democratic political do their best to mislead people about it, and you are fixated on how many people were there. Bizarre.
I haven't seen anybody say that. Have you?
He’s just making hay out of more non stories. They would know if there was explosives in the containers the same way an airport detector would stop you from passing through security with explosives. Yes, prosecute anyone involved, but stop bastardizing the truth to advance lies.
I wouldn't call it a non-story.
But I would call that particular debate tactic of putting words in your mouth you didn't come close to saying pretty dishonest.
It's called a question. I'm trying to make sense of why Hal only finds the number of protesters noteworthy, not two Islamic terrorists throwing an IED at them.
It was a shitty protest promoting racist ideology that got dwarfed by normal people. Hooray for normal people!
There you go.
Islamic Terrorists throwing IED's at protesters is a "non story". It was always just a question of how you'd avoid being bothered by Islamic terrorism.
It was a loaded question.
Face it, you attempted to force Hal into defending statements he never made, which is dishonest.
IEDs have explosives. Prosecute those involved for inducing panic with a false explosive. Condemn the protesters for publicly engaging in the kind of unpopular and racist ideologies that are such a magnet for troublemakers.
the maga gestapo realizes they need semi-legitimate reasons before gunning down protesters in the streets now, especially when any random cameras might be recording ...
what are you talking about? Where are you getting such blatant misinformation?
Why were they allowed back into the country?
Where was ICE in all of it's warfare?
How does the NY Post have info that Commissioner Tish doesn't have?
Why, Why, Why?
To be fair, reports are that it was an actual explosive device. Whether or not it ever had the chance of exploding is to be determined.
It would be interesting to get some background on the individuals arrested for this.
As for who is to blame? Hard sayin' till the facts come out.
A truly worthwhile pursuit-- I wish you all the luck in the world in tracking it down and eventually solving this great mystery!
(I can't think of a better way one should spend their time!!!)
so volatile that it typically doesn’t require a fuse to go off, they said.
And yet neither of them went off even when they were lit and thrown. The fact is you were making claims that these were IEDs at the same time that it was being reported that no explosive had been determined yet. Did you not even read your own seed?
”"We do not yet know whether the devices were functional, improvised explosive devices or hoax devices, because we don't yet know if there was energetic material contained in them," Tisch said.”
Did you not even read who the seeder was?
My mistake. The rest of my comment is accurate.
Are you surprised the left wing bloggers are misleading people?
It's sad that NBC is no better than a left wing blog.
I suspect they might be citizens. You would think that The Post, et.al. would have said if they weren't. That alone is not evidence, however, but a lack thereof.
Good old homegrown, radicalized terrorists /s
but pepper spraying an opponent is ok/s
I'm anxious to confront the wannabe king's loyalists during the 250th anniversary of them getting their asses kicked and having to leave the country the first time ...
A lot of them are nothing more than bloggers.
I don't think training with terrorist is against the law.
So in fact if they went to terrorist summer camp in Turkey, that in itself is illegal in Turkey since 1991 and it applies to citizens and non citizens alike.
If the training was in Iraq, Iran or Afghanistan it violates American law
So, yes, it's illegal under several statutes on top of the attempted building of an IED or lighting one, or lighting one and throwing it .
These two shit bird's goose's are going to be cooked.
They are. Both born here.
Interesting. They gave two addresses for these fckn idiots, and the one is just over a mile from where I have storage for some of my stuff right on the Neshaminy creek. Supposedly a Six hundred thousand dollar home. The other dwelling about 5-10 miles north is said to be worth over two million.
I'll be back in that area tomorrow. Curiosity may lead past the one dwelling as it is not out of my way. Appears to be two idiots that didn't have a clue, or were just looking for some major attention. I hope they give it to them as they deserve some pretty severe punishment in my opinion. Talk about hitting, so to speak, close to home....
Now the facts are in:
Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, allegedly plotted to launch a deadly attack Saturday during an anti-Muslim protest outside Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Upper East Side residence.
The duo allegedly tried to detonate IEDs outside Gracie Mansion, but the devices never exploded.
Balat and Kayumi were arrested by the NYPD moments after the 18-year-old allegedly tossed one of the explosives at a crowd and dropped another bomb near a group of cops.
A five-count complaint against the wannabe terrorists from upscale Philadelphia suburbs revealed on Monday they wanted to cause more deaths than the Boston Marathon bombing .
“It was only three deaths,” Balat said of the Boston bombing, indicating that he was hoping for something “even bigger” in New York, according to investigators.
They also allegedly pledged allegiance to ISIS after their arrests, according to the feds.
“All praise is due to Allah lord of all worlds,” Balat allegedly wrote after asking for a pen and paper at an NYPD stationhouse. “I pledge my allegience [sic] to the Islamic State. Die in your rage yu [sic] kuffar.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch noted that “‘Now die in your rage’ is a commonly known ISIS slogan,” and Kuffar is Arabic for infidel or non-believer.
“These statements, as set forth in the complaint made clear that this was not random violence. This was a planned attack motivated by extremist ideology and inspired by a violent foreign terrorist organization,” Tisch said."
FBI searching Pa. storage facility in probe into ISIS-inspired botched bombing in NYC
I'd say it was a major news story.
The facts are out now. What a difference a day makes, right?
The only "why" for me is why would some people go to extreme lengths to downplay someone yelling “Allah Akbar” and almost being blown up with a bunch of other people?
I suppose it is best to rationalize it that way, lest you have to come to terms with the fact that two Muslim men were more hateful and dangerous than the so-called "right-wingers."
Yeah. I've had that "close to home" feeling a couple of times recently.
There was a terrorist attack (two policemen shot) in DC at the Farragut West Metro Station not long ago. That station is underneath the hotel I stayed in not 2 months before. (Club Quarters. I recommend it.)
My wife and I took a Valentine's Day weekend trip to Mexico with two other couples. A week later, there was a full on cartel war on the highway between our condo and the golf courses we played.
I dunno how you are, but I tend to shrug that kinda stuff off.... until they start happening often enough that I wonder if I shouldn't be.
Anyway, I'll be interested to hear about what you see over there.
If you think that a group of American fascist pigs is better than an American crazy religious person, so be it. I think that they are all scraping the bottom of the barrel as far as critical reasoning skills go. All have had their world views twisted up into hatred.
I find it vaguely amusing in the abstract that both the fascist group and the muslim extremists are supposedly praying to the same god, but they both seem to be way off base with what he is supposedly replying. (Psst. It's not talking to anyone.)
The one 18 year old was yelling Facist over and over when he was tackled and handcuffed.
He didn't start praying until they were forcing him into the police vehicle and the boy was begging not with any defiance or bravery but almost like "have mercy".
if you've ever been to a mosque or even watched many ME spy movies or streaming series like "Lioness" you would know they say it hundreds of times a day with
many different meanings, context is always important before you leap.
Does that mean the dozen or so people that conduct anti ICE protests in my city can go fuck themselves, too?
lol, were they outnumbered 6:1 by pro-ICE dipshits? Try to keep up.
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I am in New York. Where are you?
Is this a test?
Yes, this is a test!
it is only a test.
Had it been an actual emergency, a gigantic Atomic bomb would have landed on your location and instantly vaporized you and all the surrounding furniture! (Even the school desk you were hiding under wouldn't have helped you to survive!)
(But fortunately, it is only a test-- so fortunately you and all the other innocent newstalkers were spared-- and allowed to live on to fight another day).
And allowed to entertain us with their rapier like wit...and their amazing sense of humour for this multifaceted & multi-veneered auspicious occasion
HALLELUJAH-- PRAISE BE DE LORD!
And in answer to many as yet unspoken questions-- no, we don't have to know this.
(And no-- it definitely won't be on the Final!)
But how can you be two places at once when you're not anywhere at all?*
*Obscure reference to the Firesign Theatre duly inserted.
[✘]
So to recap the last week in New York
mayors wife get caught cheering for Hamas, including a description of the 10/7 attacks as a rape hoax,
islamic terrorists throw ieds at peaceful protesters,
Mayor attacks Islamophobia,
things are going just about as predicted they would when Mamdani won.
All that is true. The mayor opened his remarks following the TERRORIST ATTACK to as you said attack Islamophobia. He is also hosting anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil, his wife and their young son for dinner at Gracie Mansion on Sunday for the holy month of Ramadan.
ABC news described the ISIS terrorists as "activists."
Thank God the FBI is on this case or we might never know what happened.
CNN is telling its viewers that Mamdani was the target.
Like a bloggers opinion is fact.
Thank god THIS FBI is on the case. The previous administrations would have, more than likely, covered it up.
Here we are in America subjected to a lying press corps.
Maybe they would have called it workplace violence like the great divider once did.
That wouldn't surprise me. Anything to cover for the problem instead of the people.
Here is another:
CNN hit by another falsehood scandal after Ana Navarro makes incorrect claim about NYC ISIS attack
Nobody said these bloggers were smart.
They broke the mold on stupidity.
What still boggles me is that, after proven wrong so many times, the clowns that still think they are even remotely honest / factual.
And their senior journalist edwardm Issac Dovere made the same claim.
3 cnn “journalists” all promote the same falsehood. Similar to the disinformation campaign to blame the Kirk murder on the right wing.