Two Pennsylvania Teens Charged With ISIS-Inspired Bombing Outside NYC Mayor's Home

Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, both from Pennsylvania, threw improvised explosive devices at protesters gathered outside Gracie Mansion on Saturday during an anti-Islam demonstration. According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in the US southern district of New York, Balat threw the devices after they were handed to him by Kayumi. Neither device exploded, and both were made safe by the NYPD bomb squad.

An automated license plate reader captured the pair entering New York City from New Jersey less than an hour before the attack. Police arrested Balat within an hour of the devices being thrown after he jumped over a barricade. Kayumi was reported missing by his mother in Pennsylvania earlier that morning.

The homemade devices were glass preserve jars filled with screws and bolts, wrapped in duct tape, and outfitted with fuses and explosive charges. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed that at least one device contained triacetone triperoxide, known as TATP or "mother of Satan," a highly volatile chemical explosive.

Tisch told reporters the devices "were not hoax devices, nor smoke bombs. They were improvised explosive devices that could have caused serious injury or death." A search of the suspects' vehicle, a 2010 Honda discovered Sunday a few blocks from the arrest site, turned up a hobby fuse, a metal can, and a written list of chemical ingredients and components for building explosives. A third suspected device found in the vehicle was removed by a robot and tested negative for explosives.

Both men declared allegiance to the Islamic State terror group. According to the criminal complaint, Kayumi blurted out that "ISIS" was the reason for his conduct as he was being arrested. Balat later pledged allegiance to the extremist group and told authorities he wanted his bombing to be "even bigger" than the 2013 Boston Marathon attack, which killed three people and injured hundreds.

An FBI agent with the New York joint terrorism taskforce wrote in the complaint that after their arrests, Balat pledged allegiance to IS, and Kayumi said his actions were "partly inspired" by the group. An AFP correspondent at the scene reported that one suspect shouted "Allahu Akbar" when throwing the first device.

The devices were thrown during raucous counterprotests against an anti-Islam demonstration led by far-right activist Jake Lang outside the residence of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the city's first Muslim mayor. Lang's "Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City" event drew about 20 participants, while roughly 125 anti-fascist counterprotesters showed up to oppose it.

The scene grew chaotic before the devices were thrown. Police arrested Ian McGinnis, 21, of Philadelphia, after he pepper-sprayed counterprotesters. McGinnis pleaded not guilty Sunday to assault and aggravated harassment charges and was released without bond. Three other people were taken into custody but released without charges.

Federal prosecutors charged each man with five counts: attempted provision of material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, use of a weapon of mass destruction, transportation of explosive materials, interstate transportation and receipt of explosives, and unlawful possession of destructive devices. Both were arraigned Monday.

Balat was arrested in possession of a Turkish government ID and a Pennsylvania driver's license. Police Commissioner Tisch said neither defendant had a criminal history or previous encounters with law enforcement. Authorities conducted searches at two Pennsylvania homes and are investigating whether the men had recent international travel, though Tisch declined to elaborate.

Mayor Mamdani said the men had "traveled from Pennsylvania and attempted to bring violence to New York City." He praised two police officers whose "swift and decisive actions" led to the suspects' prompt arrest and safe removal of the devices. Mamdani also condemned Lang's protest as "rooted in bigotry and racism," stating that "such hate has no place in New York City," while maintaining that the protest itself should be allowed to occur.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media that the Justice Department "will not allow ISIS's poisonous, anti-American ideology to threaten this nation." Police Commissioner Tisch confirmed the incident is being investigated as an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism but said there was no connection to the US and Israeli military strikes in Iran that began on February 28.