WMD-throwing suspects wanted their ‘ISIS-inspired’ plot near Mamdani’s home to rival Boston marathon attack: feds
Two teenagers accused of bringing explosives to a protest outside New York City’s mayoral residence were inspired by the Islamic State, according to federal prosecutors.
Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, have been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction and providing material support to ISIS, among other related crimes, according to a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan.
Balat, a senior in high school, reportedly told investigators he wanted an attack to be “even bigger” than the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, when two pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the finish line, killing three people and injuring hundreds of others, according to the complaint.
Kayumi allegedly shouted out that he was inspired by ISIS while he was being arrested, prosecutors say.
They were indicted Monday.
There does not appear to be any connection between the men’s alleged bomb-throwing and the U.S.-Israel war in Iran, according to police.
Neither New York City Zohran Mamdani nor first lady Rama Duwaji were inside Gracie Mansion at the time of the alleged attack.
Two improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, were ignited outside the property on Saturday during a volatile protest led by far-right, anti-Islam activist Jake Lang, whose group was met with an even larger group of counter-protesters.
Lang organized the “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City” demonstration and was joined by as many as 20 others. A counter protest, “Run the Nazis out of New York City’s Stand Against Hate Group,” attracted at least five times as many activists.
Video from the scene shows a man shouting “Allahu Akbar” before throwing what Tish described as a “a jar wrapped in tape, importantly with nuts, bolts, and screws, along with a hobby fuse.”
One of the devices contained triacetone triperoxide, “a dangerous and highly volatile homemade explosive that has been used in IED attacks around the world,” according to New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
The device appeared to have extinguished itself as it rolled towards officers. Another device that was dropped at the scene did not appear to ignite, Tisch said.
As officers placed Kayumi inside an NYPD car on Saturday, a person from the crowd shouted out asking “why he had done this,” according to the criminal complaint.
In his response, allegedly captured on NYPD body-worn camera footage, Kayumi responded “ISIS,” the complaint states.
