Feds bring terror, mass destruction weapons charges against teens for Gracie Mansion bombs
Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi face up to decades to life in prison, according to newly released federal charges.
JNS
Mar 9, 2026
Two Pennsylvania men, Emir Balat, 18, of Langhorne, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, of Newtown, each face up to decades to life in prison for allegedly trying to detonate homemade bombs near Gracie Mansion, the residence of the New York City mayor, on Saturday.
The U.S. Justice Department said on Monday that both face charges of trying to support a foreign terror organization, using a weapon of mass destruction, transporting explosive materials, including across state lines and possessing destructive devices illegally.
Those charges add up to a maximum sentence of 50 years to life for each of the man, the department said.
“This was an alleged ISIS-inspired act of terrorism that could have killed American citizens,” stated Pam Bondi, the U.S. attorney general. “We will not allow ISIS’s poisonous, anti-American ideology to threaten this nation. Our law enforcement officers will remain vigilant, as they were when these devices were brought to a protest.”
Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, stated that the men “allegedly sought to inflict mass casualties in service to ISIS with the hope of exceeding the carnage of the Boston Marathon bombing.”
The brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev killed three and injured more than 500 in the April 15, 2013 Boston bombing.
The federal complaint alleges that the two men tried to detonate two improvised explosive devices among protesters at a “Stop the Islamic takeover of New York City, stop New York City public Muslim prayer” rally outside Gracie Mansion on March 7.
Mamdani said that he and his wife knew that the protest was planned and were at the New York City Sign Museum in Brooklyn at the time.
Balat lit and threw an explosive “toward the area where the protesters gathered” at around 12:15 p.m., per the complaint. He then ran down the block, and Kayumi gave him a second explosive device, which he appeared to ignite and drop “near where several NYPD officers were standing,” the Justice Department alleges.
After New York City Police Department officers arrested the two, the suspects “stated they were aligned with ISIS,” stated Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
“This isn’t a religion that just stands when people talk about the blessed name of the prophet,” Balant allegedly told police officers. “We take action! We take action!”
“If I didn’t do it someone else will come and do it,” he allegedly said. At the police station, he asked for a pen and paper and wrote “all praise is due to Allah, lord of all worlds,” per the complaint. “I pledge my allegiance to the Islamic State.” He also used the ISIS slogan “die in your rage,” which he directed at non-believers, using an Arabic term, the Justice Department said.
When police officers asked Balat if he was aware of the Boston Marathon bombing, he allegedly told them that he wanted to accomplish something “even bigger,” because “it was only three deaths.”
According to the Justice Department, Kayumi responded, while inside a police car, to someone in the crowd asking why he carried out the attack by saying “ISIS.” It added that he later told police officers that he is part of the terror group.
When FBI specialists evaluated the mason jar-sized devices, they found that “each had an attached fuse, and that they each had nuts and bolts attached to the exterior, surrounded by duct tape.”
The device that Balat is accused of throwing into a crowd of protesters “contained TATP, a highly volatile explosive that is colloquially known as the ‘Mother of Satan’ and extremely sensitive to impact, friction and heat,” the Justice Department said. “TATP has been used in multiple terrorist attacks over the last decade.”
In a press conference on Monday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani led, as he did in a Sunday statement, with the anti-Muslim rally rather than with the attempted terror attack.
“On Saturday, a protest was held outside Gracie Mansion, where I live with my wife, Rama. Neither of us were home at the time. This was a vile protest rooted in white supremacy entitled ‘Stop the Islamic takeover of New York City,'” he said. “I’m the first Muslim mayor of our city. Anti-Muslim bigotry is nothing new to me, nor is it anything new for the 1 million or so Muslim New Yorkers who know this city as our home.”
Mamdani said that the protest was “appalling” but that he is unwavering in his belief that such a gathering is protected free speech. He then pivoted to discussing the violence what he said was a mostly peaceful counter protest.
“Let me also be clear about something else. New York City will never tolerate violence, whether from protests or counter protests,” he said. “Many of the counter protesters met this display of bigotry peacefully, with a vision of a city that is welcoming to all. But a few did not. Two men, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, traveled from Pennsylvania and attempted to bring violence to New York City.”
The two “are suspected of coming here to commit an act of terrorism,” he said. The mayor did not reference the statements the two allegedly made about supporting ISIS.
Jessica Tisch, the New York City Police Department commissioner, spoke next and said, “I can confirm this morning that this is being investigated as an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism.”
New York City has been “in a heightened state of alert” since the “start of hostilities in Iran, and we remain in that posture,” said Tisch, who was wearing a Star of David necklace. “Today, we will continue to deploy additional counterterrorism resources throughout New York City, including heavy weapons teams, canine units, aviation and more.”
“The last time that an IED targeting people was deployed in New York City was in 2017 when Akayed Ullah detonated a device strapped to his torso in the pedestrian underpass connecting the Port Authority bus terminal and the Times Square subway station,” she added. “No one other than the attacker was injured in that incident, and once again, we were fortunate that the devices used this weekend did not cause the kind of harm that they were certainly capable of causing.”
“But luck is never a strategy,” she said.
After the federal charges were announced, Mamdani stated that “Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi have been charged with committing a heinous act of terrorism and proclaiming their allegiance to ISIS.”
“They should be held fully accountable for their actions,” he added. “We will continue to keep New Yorkers safe. We will not tolerate terrorism or violence in our city.”
No comments:
Post a Comment