FBI Heads Up Investigation into IED Thrown During Protest at New York City's Gracie Mansion
What to know
- Two teens were arrested after allegedly throwing improvised explosive devices at Jan. 6 rioter Jake Lang during an anti‑Muslim protest he organized outside Gracie Mansion.
- NYPD officials said one of the devices was a fully functional IED capable of causing serious injury or death, and the FBI is investigating the case as a potential act of terrorism.
- Police recovered multiple devices and are reviewing the suspects’ reported international travel and alleged interest in ISIS videos, authorities said.
By Rocco Parascandola, John Annese and Roni Jacobson
Source New York Daily News
An improvised device thrown at Jan. 6 rioter Jake Lang at an anti-Muslim protest he organized outside Gracie Mansion was a potentially deadly explosive, with the FBI now heading a probe of two teen suspects expected to face federal terrorism charges in the disturbing incident, police and sources said Sunday.
Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, were arrested in connection with the device at Saturday’s chaotic rally, which saw clashes between Lang and counterprotesters outside the Upper East Side mayoral residence of Mayor Mamdani.
“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,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a social media post Sunday. “It is, in fact, an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death.”
Tisch added that investigators are continuing to analyze a second device.
A third “suspicious device” was found in a Hyundai tied to one or both suspects parked on East End Ave. between 81st and 82nd Sts., the NYPD posted on X.
Police temporarily evacuated the area and safely removed the device, which is undergoing further testing.
The FBI is currently investigating the case as a potential act of terrorism, with the teens expected to face federal charges, law enforcement sources said.
Balat lives in Langhorne, Pa., while Kayumi lives in nearby Newtown Township, according to police sources.
A woman confirmed she was a relative of Balat but said she had “no comment” when reached by phone on Sunday night.
Balat is a high school student in the Neshaminy School District in Bucks County, Pa., NBC10 Philadelphia reported.
A person was seen being taken away in handcuffs after authorities searched a house in Newtown linked to Kayumi, but it was not immediately clear who was in custody, according to NBC10.
Kayumi’s last name has also been reported as Nikk.
In his own social media post Sunday, Mamdani blasted Lang’s protest, calling it “rooted in bigotry and racism,” but said the counterprotesters’ actions were even worse.
“Such hate has no place in New York City,” he said of Lang’s rally. “It is an affront to our city’s values and the unity that defines who we are. What followed was even more disturbing. 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.”
Mamdani went on to thank “the brave men and women of the NYPD who acted quickly to keep New Yorkers safe.”
Lang, an alleged white supremacist and far-right provocateur, was awaiting trial for allegedly attacking cops with a baseball bat and shield during the Jan. 6, 2021 riots when President Trump pardoned him. He recently organized a pro-ICE counterprotest in Minneapolis.
He showed up walking a goat on a rope to his anti-Muslim protest in front of Gracie Mansion, which was called “Americans Against Islamification” and advertised with a poster portraying soldiers in armor evoking the Crusades — a series of wars started by Christianity to wrest control of Jerusalem from Muslim control a millennia ago.
His 20 or so protesters drew a counterprotest, and chaos ensued. Balat threw a homemade device at about 12:38 p.m. at Lang and his group at the corner of E. 87th St. and East End Ave., and it gave off flames and smoke but didn’t explode, Tisch told reporters Saturday.
Balat then ran south on East End Ave. toward E. 86th St. and got a second device from Kayumi, lit it and started running with it before dropping it on the avenue’s west side near E. 86th St., Tisch said.
Cellphone video circulating on social media appeared to corroborate Tisch’s description of the events. In one video, a mostly unseen man runs up from behind the person filming and lobs a smoking object into a crowd about a block away.
In another video, a man in a gray sweatshirt matching the person in the first video can be seen jogging toward someone in a green camo jacket, who is casually smoking a cigarette as he hands over an object the man in gray lights up and runs with before quickly getting tackled by police officers. The man in gray appears to shout something as he is being held on the ground and handcuffed.
Police arrested both at the scene.
Tisch on Saturday described the devices as jars “a bit smaller than a football,” wrapped in black tape and packed with nuts, bolts and screws, along with a “hobby fuse” — typically used to ignite fireworks or model rockets.
A police source said at least one of the devices was composed of a plastic bottle filled with explosive materials inside a jug filled with metals, such as bolts.
The two men remained at the 26th Precinct stationhouse Sunday as members of the NYPD and FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated. Charges against them were pending.
The suspects told investigators their actions were because Lang “hates Islam,” a police source said.
At least one of the suspects told investigators the teens had watched ISIS videos, according the source. Authorities are reviewing their recent travels out of the country. Balat traveled to Istanbul from May 6 to Aug. 26, 2025, and Kayumi traveled to Istanbul for several weeks in July and August 2024 and to Saudi Arabia in late March of that year, CBS reported.
Police also arrested Ian McGinnis, 21, of Philadelphia, charging him with reckless endangerment, assault and unlawful possession of noxious matter and accusing him of pepper-spraying counterprotesters.
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