Explosives at protest near NYC Mayor Mamdani’s home was ‘ISIS-inspired terrorism’: police

NEW YORK (TNND) — An attack with improvised explosives at an anti-Islam demonstration outside Gracie Mansion in Manhattan on Saturday is being investigated as ISIS-inspired terrorism, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Two men were in custody after the incident unfolded during a “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City” near the home of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Ibrahim Nikk and Emir Balat reportedly traveled from Pennsylvania in an attempt “to bring violence to New York City,” Mamdani said in a Monday morning news conference.

“They are suspected of coming here to commit an act of terrorism,” Mamdani added. “There is video of these two individuals throwing two devices towards the protest. The police department determined that these were improvised explosive devices made to injure, maim or worse.”

The event attracted far larger counterdemonstrators, which included one person who threw a smoking object containing nuts, bolts, screws and a “hobby fuse” into the crowd.

In a social media post on Sunday, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the department’s bomb squad determined the object was an “improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death.”

The same person who threw the device in received a second device from another counterprotester, which was dropped and did not appear to ignite, according to the commissioner.

Tisch said police were working with federal prosecutors and the FBI on the case. The FBI said agents with the bureau’s Joint Terrorism Task Force were participating in the investigation.

“Yesterday, white supremacist Jake Lang organized a protest outside Gracie Mansion rooted in bigotry and racism,” Mamdani said in a Sunday statement on X. “Such hate has no place in New York City. It is an affront to our city’s values and the unity that defines who we are.”

“What followed was even more disturbing. Violence at a protest is never acceptable,” he continued. “The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are.”