New York (AFP) – An improvised explosive thrown near anti-Islam protesters outside the New York mayor’s residence was a viable device “that could have caused serious injury or death,” police said Sunday.
Two suspicious devices were thrown by a man identified by police as Emir Balat near the protest Saturday led by a far-right influencer to oppose public Muslim prayer. An AFP correspondent at the scene heard Balat shout “Allahu akbar” (“God is the greatest”) during the incident, which is under investigation by counter-terrorism detectives.
On Sunday, the police bomb squad inspected a car near to the scene of the previous day’s incident, an AFP correspondent saw, with officers reporting a “suspicious device” was discovered. “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 smoke bomb. It is, in fact, an improvised explosive device (IED),” the New York Police Department (NYPD) said in a statement Sunday.
Police had said Saturday that the devices were jars wrapped in tape and containing nuts, bolts, and screws — typical components of an IED. Two men were arrested after Saturday’s incident: Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, who reportedly handed over a device that was thrown by Balat, who dropped it near a line of police.
The events unfolded after the far-right influencer, Jake Lang, staged a demonstration outside Gracie Mansion, the official residence of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is Muslim. Lang was protesting alleged “Islamification” and calling for an end to “public Muslim prayer” in New York. His protest drew around 20 people while a counter-protest drew about 125. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Saturday she did not believe Mamdani was home at the time.
On Sunday, the police bomb squad used a robot to inspect a car near to the scene of the previous day’s incident, an AFP correspondent saw. A police spokesman could not confirm if the deployment was linked to the events of Saturday.
– ‘Flames and smoke’ –
AFP correspondents at the scene on Saturday saw a man wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and beige cargo pants — later identified as Balat — being handed a device wrapped in tape and billowing smoke by another man, named by police as Kayumi. Balat dropped the device near a line of police before vaulting a crash barrier.
“Witnesses reported seeing flames and smoke as it travelled through the air before it struck a barrier a few feet from police officers,” police commissioner Tisch said Saturday. Balat threw a similar device near Lang’s group of protesters.
The NYPD statement said Balat and Kayumi were arrested at the scene Saturday and are in custody. It said the NYPD is working on the investigation with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI through the NYPD’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.
“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 said Sunday. There was no indication the incident was related to the ongoing hostilities in Iran, Tisch said Saturday.
© 2024 AFP
