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A man hurled an improvised explosive device amid dueling protests outside New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Manhattan residence on Saturday, prompting an investigation by federal terrorism authorities and the discovery of an additional device in a nearby car the next day.

While the device thrown Saturday did not explode, police said it was capable of causing “serious injury or death.” Law enforcement sources told CNN the two men arrested in connection with the device admitted to being inspired by ISIS.

The violence erupted during an anti-Islam protest organized by a right-wing provocateur that was dwarfed by a crowd of more than 100 counterprotesters, officials said.

Saturday’s clash unfolded during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Mamdani, who is the city’s first Muslim mayor, and his wife Rama Duwaji, were not at Gracie Mansion at the time, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.

Here’s what we know:

How opposing protests boiled over

An anti-Islam protest organized by right-wing influencer Jake Lang drew roughly 20 participants, while a counterprotest called “Drive the Nazis Out of New York” peaked at about 125 people, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

Tensions between the two groups, who were separated into designated protest areas, escalated shortly before noon. At around 12:15 p.m., a protester associated with Lang’s group pepper-sprayed counterprotesters, Tisch said.

Twenty minutes later, a counterprotester “threw an ignited device toward the protest area,” which landed on a crosswalk, Tisch said.

Video shows the moment the device was thrown, with protesters and police officers scrambling to get away from where it landed.

“Witnesses reported seeing flames and smoke as it traveled through the air before it struck a barrier and extinguished itself a few feet from police officers,” the commissioner said.

The man then retrieved a second device from another man before lighting it and starting to run, Tisch said. He dropped the second device on the street, where it appeared to emit smoke but also did not explode.

Officers secured the area, taking both men, an 18-year-old and a 19-year-old, into custody. Authorities have not yet announced any charges.

Police told The New York Times the two teenagers are from Pennsylvania. CNN has reached out to the NYPD for further information.

The anti-Islam protester accused of using pepper spray was also arrested, along with three others for alleged disorderly conduct and obstructing traffic, Tisch said.

Device designed to cause harm

A preliminary analysis from the NYPD bomb squad determined both devices recovered Saturday were slightly smaller than a football and appeared to be jars wrapped in black tape containing bolts, screws and a hobby fuse, Tisch said.

The device thrown into the crosswalk appears to have been made with TATP, an extraordinarily powerful and unstable explosive that’s easy to obtain, multiple law enforcement officials told CNN, citing preliminary inspection results.

“It is not a hoax device or a smoke bomb,” Tisch said in a post on X. Analysis of the second device recovered at the scene is ongoing.

On Sunday, the NYPD said it was investigating a suspicious device in a vehicle a few blocks south of Gracie Mansion “in connection with” Saturday’s incident.

The area was blocked off, and “limited evacuations” of buildings were conducted while the bomb squad checked out and removed the device for further testing, police said.
A Honda Civic was removed on a flatbed truck around 7 p.m. Sunday and the streets were reopened, The Associated Press reported.

Mamdani called Saturday’s 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,” the mayor said.

Mamdani and Tisch are scheduled to hold a news conference at Gracie Mansion Monday morning.

Investigation leads authorities to Pennsylvania

The two men arrested in connection with the explosive devices remain in custody, the FBI said Sunday evening, noting its New York Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating along with the NYPD and the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The devices are being investigated as a possible act of terrorism, multiple law enforcement officials familiar with the matter told CNN.

A large law enforcement presence was seen around one of the arrested teenagers’ homes in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Sunday, according to CNN affiliate KYW.

“This is the FBI, everybody come out,” authorities were heard saying over a megaphone, leading three people to exit the residence, the outlet reported.
The FBI told KYW it was conducting “court authorized law enforcement activity” in the area but didn’t provide details.

The Newtown Township Police Department said it was assisting the FBI with an investigation Sunday afternoon and residents may see a large law enforcement presence, according to the outlet.

CNN has reached out to the FBI and Newtown Township police for information.

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Two men face charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction after a pair of homemade bombs were tossed during protests near New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home Saturday, court documents show.

Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, also face charges of transportation of explosive materials; unlawful possession of destructive devices; and interstate transportation and receipt of explosives, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.

Body-worn camera footage cited in the complaint shows that as Kayumi was being placed into an NYPD vehicle following his arrest on Saturday, “a person in the crowd asked why he’d done this,” and Kayumi responded with “ISIS,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a Monday afternoon news conference.

After waiving his Miranda rights, Kayumi said he had “watched ISIS propaganda on his phone and that his actions that day were partly inspired by ISIS,” Tisch said.

Balat made statements while inside a police car and without being questioned by officers and said, “This isn’t a religion that just stands when people talk about the blessed name of the Prophet. We take action … If I didn’t do it someone else will come and do it,” Tisch added.

Balat also told authorities that he had pledged allegiance to the extremist group, the court document said.
Complaint against Balat and Kayumi

Law enforcement later asked Balat if he was familiar with the Boston Marathon bombing and if that was what he hoped to accomplish. Balat responded, “No, even bigger. It was only three deaths,” according to the complaint.

“These were ISIS-inspired actions, and it is chilling that they wanted to do something more than the Boston Marathon, more than three deaths,” Jay Clayton, US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at the news conference.

The first improvised explosive device, which did not explode, was thrown as anti-Islam protesters clashed with counterprotesters.

The same man who threw the IED lit a second bomb, dropped it on the street and ran, the police commissioner said. It also did not explode.

“Preliminary test results determined that these were not hoax devices, nor smoke bombs. They were improvised explosive devices that could have caused serious injury or death,” Tisch said at a news conference Monday morning with the mayor.

A third device – found Sunday – is being investigated “in connection with” Saturday’s incident, NYPD said. That device tested negative for explosive material, Tisch said.

NYPD and FBI bomb technicians conducted controlled detonations of the two IEDs from Saturday’s protest, which resulted in a “significant explosion,” said Rebecca Weiner, NYPD’s deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism, during the afternoon news conference.

“It’s really important to note that had these IEDs functioned the way the perpetrators allegedly wanted them to, they could have caused death, destruction,” Weiner said.

The violence Saturday erupted during an anti-Islam protest organized by a right-wing provocateur that was dwarfed by a crowd of more than 100 counterprotesters, officials said.

Here’s what we know:
Suspects have no criminal histories

The men arrived in the city by crossing the George Washington Bridge, and roughly an hour later, they were arrested after the devices were thrown, Tisch said.

They do not have criminal histories, she added.

Mehdi Essmidi, an attorney representing Balat, told CNN Monday the defendant is a high school student who only turned 18 two months ago and lives at home with his parents in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, a small suburb about an hour north from Philadelphia.

“It’s still not clear how he even came to be in New York to be involved in this and I’m still trying to figure out,” Essmidi said.

Balat is a US citizen and so far there is no indication he had any relationship with Kayumi prior to Saturday’s incident, Essmidi said, adding the suspects did not have prior school, family or work ties.

“I know the family was very surprised by what happened,” Essmidi said.

Balat’s family has so far cooperated with law enforcement, after federal authorities executed search warrants at the homes of both suspects, Essmidi said.

“They’re regular Americans, compliant with law enforcement. There’s been no obstruction, no issues,” he added.

Kayumi is being represented by a public federal defender.

Both suspects were remanded to federal custody and are being held without bail after their initial court appearance Monday. They are next scheduled to appear in court on April 8.

The clash unfolded during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Mamdani, who is the city’s first Muslim mayor, said he and his wife, Rama Duwaji, were not at Gracie Mansion at the time.

“The police department has determined that these were improvised explosive devices made to injure, maim or worse,” Mamdani said at the news conference.

“Anyone who comes to New York City to bring violence to our streets will be held accountable in accordance with the law.”

In a post on X, Attorney General Pam Bondi shared photos of the suspects at the protests and called them “ISIS-inspired terrorists.”

“We will not allow ISIS’s poisonous, anti-American ideology to threaten this nation,” she wrote in the post.
How opposing protests boiled over

An anti-Islam protest organized by right-wing influencer Jake Lang drew about 20 participants. It was outnumbered by a counterprotest called “Drive the Nazis Out of New York,” which peaked at about 125 people, the police commissioner said.

The dueling groups were separated into designated areas, but tensions escalated shortly before noon. Around 12:15 p.m., a protester associated with Lang’s group pepper-sprayed counterprotesters, Tisch said.

Twenty minutes later, a counterprotester “threw an ignited device toward the protest area,” which landed on a crosswalk, Tisch said.

Video shows protesters and police officers scrambling to get away from where the device landed.

“Witnesses reported seeing flames and smoke as it traveled through the air before it struck a barrier and extinguished itself a few feet from police officers,” the commissioner said.

The man then retrieved a second device from another man before lighting it and starting to run, Tisch said. He dropped the second device on the street, where it appeared to emit smoke but also did not explode.

Officers arrested Balat and Kayumi, who are both from Pennsylvania, police said.

“Emir Balat is a student in Neshaminy School District, currently 12th grade,” a district spokesperson said in an email to CNN.

A large law enforcement presence was seen Sunday around one of the arrested teenagers’ homes in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, according to CNN affiliate KYW.

A spokesperson from the FBI’s Philadelphia Division told CNN the agency conducted “court-authorized law enforcement activity” in the area but did not provide further details.

Authorities in Pennsylvania’s Middletown Township and Newtown areas “have indicated that there is no known threat to the surrounding community,” Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick posted Sunday night on Facebook.

The anti-Islam protester accused of using pepper spray was also arrested during Saturday’s protest, Tisch said. Another three people were arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct and obstructing traffic.
Bolts, screws and powerful explosive material

Both devices recovered Saturday were slightly smaller than footballs and appeared to be jars wrapped in black tape containing bolts, screws and a hobby fuse, Tisch said, citing the NYPD bomb squad’s preliminary analysis.

The first device apparently was made with an unstable material called TATP, the commissioner said.

“TATP is a dangerous and highly volatile homemade explosive that has been used in IED attacks around the world,” Tisch said.

The second device was still being analyzed.

On Monday, the FBI was searching a storage unit in Pennsylvania related to the investigation into Saturday’s incident, the bureau said in a post on X without elaborating.

Mamdani said Saturday’s anti-Islam protest was “rooted in bigotry and racism” – but what followed was “even more disturbing,” he said in a statement Sunday.

“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,” the mayor said.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said while “the Islamophobic protests that triggered all this is abhorrent,” she also condemned those who reacted violently.

“Neither belongs in New York – the reaction to the protest or the protest itself,” Hochul said. “Yes, you have a right to protest. But this was all outside the bounds.”

Mamdani lauded the bravery of NYPD officers who “faced a chaotic situation that very quickly could have become far more dangerous.”

At the news conference with Tisch on Monday, the mayor commended NYPD Assistant Chief Aaron Edwards and Sgt. Luis Navarro, who “ran towards the danger so that others could run to safety.”

Disaster averted

This was the first time in nearly a decade that IEDs targeted residents in the nation’s largest city, Tisch said.

“The last time that an IED targeting people was deployed in New York City was in 2017, when Akayed Ullah detonated a device strapped to his torso in the pedestrian underpass connecting the Port Authority bus terminal and the Times Square subway station,” she said.

“No one other than the attacker was injured in that incident. And once again, we were fortunate that the devices used this weekend did not cause the kind of harm that they were certainly capable of causing.”

James Barnacle, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office, thanked the NYPD officers who ran toward the devices knowing they could detonate.

“If it weren’t for the bravery of two New York’s finest we could have had a much more tragic incident,” he said.

Barnacle thanked other agencies involved in the investigation, including Customs and Border Protection, the Port Authority Police Department as well as FBI divisions in other cities.

“The collective efforts across all these agencies … thwarted a potentially devastating day in this city.”
A ‘heightened threat environment’

Both the police chief and the governor said they’re ramping up resources to protect the public.

“We have been in a heightened state of alert in New York City since the start of hostilities in Iran, and we remain in that posture,” Tisch said.
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“We will continue to deploy additional counterterrorism resources throughout New York City, including heavy weapons teams, canine units, aviation and more,” the police chief said.

And “as the investigation into the terrorist attack near Gracie Mansion and military action in Iran continue,” the governor posted on X, “New York State remains in a heightened threat environment.”

More than 1,000 members of the National Guard have been deployed on state active duty, protecting critical transit sites across New York City, Hochul said. And state police “are increasing their presence at sensitive sites across New York.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

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