New York City police said an improvised explosive device was ignited and deployed by at least one pro-Islam counterprotester during a violent clash with right-wing protesters outside Gracie Mansion, the Upper East Side home of New York’s first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, on Saturday.
Two people were in custody after New York City police said they attempted to ignite suspicious homemade devices during a “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City” rally led by Jake Lang, a 30-year-old right-wing conservative influencer, previously pardoned for his involvement in the Jan. 6 riot. The NYC protest drew a large crowd of over 100 counterprotesters, and one demonstrator threw an ignited device toward Lang’s area, police said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Sunday that the “NYPD Bomb Squad has conducted a preliminary analysis of a device and has determined that it is, in fact, an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death.”
Emir Balat, 18, the counterprotester accused of throwing that device and another smoking projectile, and Ibrahim Nikk, 19, who is accused of supplying one of them, were arrested at the scene on Saturday, the police said. No injuries were reported in the incident.
Charges against Mr. Balat, of Langhorne, Pa., and Mr. Nikk, of Newton, Pa., had not been determined as of Sunday, the police said.
Officers also arrested four other people, including Ian McGinnis, 21, of Philadelphia, who pepper-sprayed the counterprotesters. He was charged with reckless endangerment, assault, and unlawful possession of noxious matter, the police said on Sunday.
NYPD sources said that McGinnis appears to be a part of the initial protests called “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City.” He was allegedly captured on video using pepper spray on counter-protesters. Three other people were charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction charges.
The incident that occurred on Saturday near Gracie Mansion happened while Mamdani and his wife were home, around 11 a.m. local time.
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Lang is said to have shown up with a goat and about 20 followers at the initial start of the protest, who were wearing American flag hats and “Freedom” sweatshirts, echoing the slogan on a shirt worn by the slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk. As the protest continued, a crowd of counterprotesters grew.
Police said tensions escalated late Saturday morning when a brawl broke out between the protesting groups. Amid the fighting, a counterprotester reportedly screamed “Allahu Akbar” and threw a device toward the crowd.
The device struck a barrier and extinguished itself a few feet from police officers, authorities said, describing the device as “a jar wrapped in black tape, with nuts, bolts and screws, along with a hobby fuse that could be lit.”
On Sunday, another suspicious device was found inside about three blocks from Gracie Mansion, the NYPD said. The discovery of the device prompted some evacuations of buildings in the area while the Bomb Squad assesses and removes the device.
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Mamdani issued a statement about the events at the protest, labeling Lang as a “white supremacist” and saying violence at protests is unacceptable.
Mamdani said he is in close contact with Tisch as the NYPD partners with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which has taken the lead on the federal investigation. Search warrants were expected to be executed in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
