FBI launches terrorism investigation after explosives lit outside NYC mayor Mamdani's home
Two men have been arrested in connection with the explosives, including one who was detained just seconds after ignition.
New York officials and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States have launched an investigation into "an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism", following the attempted use of two homemade explosives near the residence of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Saturday, reports BBC.
The devices, which were both ignited, and at least one of which was thrown, "could have caused serious injury or death", New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
According to the BBC report, the incident occurred after a group of anti-Islam protesters gathered outside Mamdani's mayoral residence, Gracie Mansion, and clashed with a larger group of counter-protesters.
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Two men have been arrested in connection with the explosives, including one who was detained just seconds after ignition.
The suspects were identified as Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, both from Pennsylvania.
"We were fortunate that the devices used this weekend did not cause the kind of harm that they were certainly capable of causing," Tisch said during a press conference on Monday (9 March).
"But luck is never a strategy. Devices like these have the potential to cause devastating harm."
Tisch also said that officers had found a car in the city's Upper East Side that was tied to the two suspects. The New York City Police Department used a robot that found "another possible suspicious device and materials inside the car consistent with the first two explosive devices".
In an earlier update, Tisch told reporters the protest was organised by Jake Lang, a far-right influencer and pardoned 6 January rioter. That group was outnumbered by the counter-protest, which had over 100 participants.
As the two groups clashed, video from the scene confirmed by CBS News showed Balat throwing the first "ignited device", which extinguished itself after striking a barrier.
Balat then retrieved a second device from Kayumi, lit it, and started running before later dropping it, Tisch said.
In the updates provided on Monday, Mamdani said both devices had been thrown.
In a statement on Sunday, the mayor called the anti-Islam protest "rooted in bigotry and racism" but said what followed was "even more disturbing".
"Violence at a protest is never acceptable. The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are," he said.
