ISIS-Linked Suspects Charged After IED Thrown During Gracie Mansion Protest [WATCH]

Two men described by law enforcement sources as ISIS-trained extremists have been charged after allegedly throwing an improvised explosive device during a protest near Gracie Mansion over the weekend.

Authorities say the device was packed with triacetone triperoxide, a volatile explosive commonly known as “Mother of Satan.”

The suspects, identified as Ibraham Kayumi, 19, and Emir Balat, 18, were arrested following a confrontation outside the mayor’s residence Saturday afternoon.

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According to law enforcement sources close to the investigation, both men had self-radicalized in recent years and traveled overseas to areas associated with terror training.

Sources said Balat spent more than three months in Istanbul last year.

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Kayumi also traveled internationally, flying to Istanbul and Saudi Arabia in 2024.

He previously traveled to Melbourne, Australia, in 2019.

Authorities say the two men admitted to police after being taken into custody that they had watched ISIS videos and threw the explosive device at right-wing protesters during the demonstration because they believed the protesters had insulted their religion.

The device allegedly used in the incident consisted of sports drink bottles filled with triacetone triperoxide, or TATP. The explosive compound is frequently associated with terrorist attacks and is widely referred to by investigators as “Mother of Satan” due to its instability.

Law enforcement sources said the substance is so volatile that it often does not require a fuse to detonate.

TATP can also be manufactured using household ingredients that are commonly available at home improvement stores and pharmacies, making it relatively inexpensive to produce.

“It’s designed to maim and kill,” one source said.

“This is just luck no one is dead.”

TATP has been used in several major terrorist attacks over the past decade, including incidents in France, the United Kingdom, Belgium and New Delhi.

In many of those attacks, the explosives caused fatalities.

Authorities said the device thrown during Saturday’s protest failed to detonate.

The confrontation unfolded during a planned anti-Muslim protest organized by right-wing activist Jake Lang outside Gracie Mansion.

The demonstration drew counter-protesters, including members of a pro-Muslim group, and the gathering escalated into a chaotic scene that included multiple physical altercations.

Video footage from the event shows several scuffles breaking out among demonstrators.

Police said the clashes resulted in six arrests, including Kayumi and Balat.

According to police and sources familiar with the investigation, the explosive device — described as a sports drink bottle filled with TATP and wrapped in construction tape — was thrown toward Lang’s group during one of the confrontations.

Officers on the scene secured the device before it detonated, preventing potential injuries.

On Sunday, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch addressed earlier reports suggesting the device might not have posed a serious threat.

She said the department’s bomb squad determined that the device was a legitimate improvised explosive.

“The NYPD Bomb Squad has conducted a preliminary analysis of a device that was ignited at a protest yesterday and has determined that it is not a hoax device or smoke bomb,” Tisch wrote on X.

“It is, in fact, an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death,” she said.

“I want to again thank the brave members of the NYPD, who ran towards danger without hesitation and quickly apprehended the suspects.”

Mayor Zohran Mamdani also released a statement Sunday condemning the violence surrounding the protest.

Mamdani criticized Lang in his remarks and referred to the activist as a “white supremacist.” The mayor said the events that unfolded outside Gracie Mansion were deeply troubling.

“What followed was even more disturbing,” the mayor said.

“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.”

Your wife saw these images of the worst massacre and mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust, and liked what she saw.

What do you mean when you say hate has no place in New York City??? It lives in Gracie Mansion. pic.twitter.com/pPNa41Ec85

— Rabbi Poupko (@RabbiPoupko) March 8, 2026

The NYPD and the FBI are now jointly investigating the incident. Law enforcement sources said federal and local authorities executed search warrants Sunday at homes in Pennsylvania connected to Kayumi and Balat.

Investigators also returned to the area near Gracie Mansion on Sunday afternoon after a bottle wrapped in tape was discovered inside a Hyundai connected to one of the suspects.

Bomb squad technicians examined the vehicle and cleared it without further incident.

Authorities said both suspects are expected to be transferred to federal custody as the investigation continues.

The explosive device recovered from the protest is expected to undergo further testing at FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the case.

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