"Explosive" device thrown outside NYC Mayor Mamdani's residence: NYPD
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The aftermath of a homemade explosive device being thrown toward police during a protest near Gracie Mansion, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's official residence, in New York on Saturday. Photo: Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
A device that was thrown outside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's official residence during a weekend protest was an "improvised explosive," N.Y. Police Department and FBI investigators said Sunday.
The big picture: The NYPD said two people were in custody following Saturday's incident, which happened amid an anti-Islam protest and counter-demonstration near Gracie Mansion — which Mamdani denounced in online posts as "disturbing."
Driving the news: NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters Saturday there were escalating tensions between about 20 protesters from the "Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City" demonstration that "far-right provocateur" Jake Lang organized and roughly 125 counter-demonstrators at its peak.
- Police arrested a Lang-associated protester after they used pepper spray on the counter-protesters, Tisch said.
- A counter-protester later "lit and threw an ignited device toward the protest area," according to Tisch. Police arrested a suspect soon after.
The latest: "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," Tisch wrote on X Sunday.
- "It is, in fact, an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death. Further analysis will be conducted, including on a second device."
State of play: Police arrested and took into custody two men on the scene, whom Tisch identified as Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, in connection with the incident.
- The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating the matter with the NYPD and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, per a Bureau post to X.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional comment from NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
