FBI Investigating After What Police Now Say Was Far More Than a ‘Smoke Bomb’ Outside Gracie Mansion

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What initially appeared to be a smoke bomb thrown during a chaotic protest outside Gracie Mansion on Saturday has turned out to be something far more dangerous — and federal authorities are now involved.

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Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced Sunday that the NYPD Bomb Squad’s preliminary analysis determined the device thrown near the mayor’s residence was “not a hoax device or a smoke bomb” but rather an improvised explosive device “that could have caused serious injury or death.” A second device was also confirmed to be an explosive. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is now assisting the NYPD and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York with the investigation.

The incident is being investigated as possible terrorism after one of the suspects referenced ISIS when communicating with law enforcement.

The violence erupted Saturday during an anti-Muslim demonstration organized by Jake Lang, a pardoned Jan. 6 defendant and far-right provocateur, who brought roughly 20 supporters to the area around East End Avenue and 87th Street. They were met by approximately 125 counter-protesters.

According to police, 18-year-old Emir Balat pulled out a device — described as a jar wrapped in black tape containing nuts, bolts, and screws with a hobby fuse — and threw it toward the protest area at around 12:38 p.m. The device struck a police barricade and extinguished itself just feet from officers. Balat then ran down East End Avenue, where a second man, 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi, allegedly handed him another device, which Balat lit and dropped between 87th and 86th Streets before being chased down and apprehended by police.

No one was injured.

CBS News reported that both Balat and Kayumi traveled to the city from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. FBI agents have since raided both of their homes — in Langhorne and Newtown, respectively. Charges have not yet been announced.

The situation continued to unfold on Sunday when the NYPD identified a suspicious device inside a vehicle on East End Avenue between 81st and 82nd Streets, prompting evacuations of nearby buildings. Officers used a flatbed truck to remove a Honda Civic from the scene, and the area was reopened around 7 p.m.

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Before the explosives were thrown, the protest had already turned violent. Lang’s group staged a pig roast at a cafe near East 88th Street and York Avenue — a deliberate provocation targeting Muslims, who do not eat pork — and paraded a live goat before marching toward Gracie Mansion. Fistfights broke out along the route, and a member of Lang’s group, identified as Ian McGinnis, 21, was arrested for allegedly pepper-spraying counter-protesters. In total, six people were arrested Saturday.

The demonstrations took place during the holy month of Ramadan, outside the home of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor. Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, were home at the time.

In a statement released Sunday, Mamdani called Lang a “white supremacist” and said the rally was “rooted in bigotry and racism.” He added: “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.”

Governor Kathy Hochul also responded, writing on social media that “there is no place for violence of any kind in our State.”

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