Two Pennsylvania men were charged with attempting to detonate explosive devices during protests outside Gracie Mansion in New York City while acting in support of ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization, federal prosecutors said in a press release March 9.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) identified the suspects as Emir Balat, 18, of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, of Newtown, Pennsylvania.
Authorities say the men attempted to detonate two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) — homemade bombs constructed from nonmilitary components — on March 7 before they were tackled and arrested by New York Police Department (NYPD) officers.
“This was an alleged ISIS-inspired act of terrorism that could have killed American citizens,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in the release. “We will not allow ISIS’s poisonous, anti-American ideology to threaten this nation.”
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the defendants allegedly sought “to inflict mass casualties in service to ISIS with the hope of exceeding the carnage of the Boston Marathon bombing.”
Blanche praised law enforcement officers who “ran into harm’s way to apprehend these individuals and disarm the explosives before anyone was harmed.”
According to the complaint cited in the DOJ release, the incident occurred March 7 during dueling demonstrations outside Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s Upper East Side residence. One protest was called “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City, Stop New York City Public Muslim Prayer,” and the counterprotest was titled “Run Nazis Out of New York City.”
Prosecutors say in the release that at about 12:15 p.m., Balat ignited and threw an explosive device toward the area where protesters were gathered. Afterward, he ran down the block and received a second device from Kayumi.
After igniting the second device, Balat dropped it near several NYPDofficers before running and jumping over a barricade, according to the complaint. Officers quickly tackled and arrested him, and Kayumi was also taken into custody.
John Eisenberg, the assistant attorney general for national security, said the alleged construction of the devices — including “the packing of metal shrapnel into explosive devices” — revealed “an intent to cause multiple deaths or serious injuries.”
Authorities said the devices were about the size of mason jars and contained nuts and bolts attached to the exterior to act as shrapnel. A preliminary examination by an FBI bomb technician determined that one of the devices contained TATP, a highly volatile explosive sometimes referred to as the “Mother of Satan,” according to the release.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the defendants “allegedly support ISIS and tried to follow the path of that deadly group by attempting to detonate explosive devices in a crowd.”
Balat and Kayumi face several federal charges: attempted provision of material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, use of a weapon of mass destruction, transportation of explosive materials, interstate transportation and receipt of explosives, and unlawful possession of destructive devices.
The most serious charge carries a potential sentence of life in prison if convicted.