An IED thrown near NYC mayor’s home and 2 other devices are being investigated as ISIS-inspired terrorism, NYPD commish says
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By Karina Tsui, John Miller, Holly Yan
An improvised explosive device hurled during protests outside New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Manhattan home on Saturday and two other devices are being investigated as an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism, NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday.
The first device was thrown as anti-Islam protesters clashed with counterprotesters. While that IED did not explode, police said it was capable of causing “serious injury or death.” Two men arrested in connection with the device admitted to being inspired by ISIS, law enforcement sources told CNN.
The same man who threw the IED lit a second device, dropped it on the street and ran, New York City’s police commissioner said.
And a third device – found Sunday – is being investigated “in connection with” Saturday’s incident, the New York Police Department said.
The violence Saturday erupted during an anti-Islam protest organized by a right-wing provocateur that was dwarfed by a crowd of more than 100 counterprotesters, officials said.
The clash unfolded during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Mamdani, who is the city’s first Muslim mayor, and his wife, Rama Duwaji, were not at Gracie Mansion at the time, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.
Here’s what we know:
How opposing protests boiled over
An anti-Islam protest organized by right-wing influencer Jake Lang drew about 20 participants. It was outnumbered by a counterprotest called “Drive the Nazis Out of New York,” which peaked at about 125 people, the police commissioner said.
The opposing groups were separated into designated areas, but tensions escalated shortly before noon. Around 12:15 p.m., a protester associated with Lang’s group pepper-sprayed counterprotesters, Tisch said.
Twenty minutes later, a counterprotester “threw an ignited device toward the protest area,” which landed on a crosswalk, Tisch said.
Video shows protesters and police officers scrambling to get away from where the device landed.
“Witnesses reported seeing flames and smoke as it traveled through the air before it struck a barrier and extinguished itself a few feet from police officers,” the commissioner said.
The man then retrieved a second device from another man before lighting it and starting to run, Tisch said. He dropped the second device on the street, where it appeared to emit smoke but also did not explode.
Officers took both men, an 18-year-old and a 19-year-old, into custody. Authorities did not immediately announce what charges they face.
The two teens are from Pennsylvania, police told the The New York Times. CNN has reached out to the NYPD for further information.
The anti-Islam protester accused of using pepper spray was also arrested, Tisch said. Another three people were arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct and obstructing traffic.
Bolts, screws and a powerful explosive
Both devices recovered Saturday were slightly smaller than footballs and appeared to be jars wrapped in black tape containing bolts, screws and a hobby fuse, Tisch said, citing the NYPD bomb squad’s preliminary analysis.
The first device, which landed on the crosswalk, appears to have been made with TATP, an extraordinarily powerful and unstable explosive that’s easy to obtain, multiple law enforcement officials told CNN, citing preliminary inspection results.
“It is not a hoax device or a smoke bomb,” Tisch said in a post on X.
The second device was still being analyzed.
Mamdani called Saturday’s anti-Islam protest “rooted in bigotry and racism” but said 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,” the mayor said.
A third device found
On Sunday, the NYPD said it was investigating the third device in a vehicle a few blocks south of Gracie Mansion “in connection with” Saturday’s incident.
The area was blocked off, and “limited evacuations” of buildings were conducted while the bomb squad examined and removed the device for further testing, police said.
A Honda Civic was removed on a flatbed truck around 7 p.m. Sunday, and the streets were reopened.
Investigation leads authorities to Pennsylvania
The two men arrested in connection with the explosive devices remain in custody, the FBI said Sunday evening, noting its New York Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating along with the NYPD and the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The devices are being investigated as a possible act of terrorism, multiple law enforcement officials familiar with the matter told CNN.
A large law enforcement presence was seen around one of the arrested teenagers’ homes in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Sunday, according to CNN affiliate KYW.
“This is the FBI, everybody come out,” authorities were heard saying over a megaphone, leading three people to exit the residence, the affiliate said.
The FBI was conducting “court authorized law enforcement activity” in the area but didn’t provide details, KYW reported.
The Newtown Township Police Department told CNN it was assisting the FBI with an investigation Sunday afternoon.
CNN has reached out to the FBI and Newtown Township police for information.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN’s John Miller, Emma Tucker, Gloria Pazmino, Chris Boyette and Cindy Von Quednow contributed to this report.
Source: edition.cnn.com
