After explosives were placed outside Gracie Mansion, the residence of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, on Saturday, Brad Lander, a former New York City comptroller who is running for Congress, stated that “vile displays of Islamophobia will never be tolerated in our city.”
Some 20 hours later, Lander, a harsh critic of Israel, posted an update. “The explosives yesterday near Gracie Mansion were not thrown by the Islamophobic protestors, but by their counter-protesters,” he stated. “I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions and posting too soon, but I’m not sorry for hating Islamophobia as much as I hate antisemitism.”
Mamdani, who is Muslim and is also a harsh critic of Israel, drew criticism for his statement, which noted that “white supremacist Jake Lang organized a protest outside Gracie Mansion rooted in bigotry and racism.” The mayor didn’t make clear that the violence came from among some 100 people who were protesting against the small anti-Muslim protest.
“What followed was even more disturbing. Violence at a protest is never acceptable,” the mayor stated. “The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are.”
Some 40 minutes before Mamdani posted his statement, Jessica Tisch, the New York City Police Department commissioner, named the two suspects arrested on the scene—Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi.
The department’s 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,” Tisch stated. “It is, in fact, an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death.”
“Further analysis will be conducted, including on a second device,” she said. “I want to again thank the brave members of the NYPD who ran towards the danger without hesitation and quickly apprehended the suspects.”
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) decried Mamdani’s post.
“To give full context to what happened yesterday, the two individuals arrested for throwing a homemade explosive device filled with nails, have admitted to authorities they were inspired by ISIS,” the congressman stated. “In other words, they were radical Islamic terrorists.”
“As mayor of the largest city in the world, and the greatest target of terrorism, you need to confront this head on. Don’t just call out one group of protestors and not the other group, and certainly don’t ignore the background of those responsible,” Lawler stated. “White supremacy and radical Islam are equally bad. That shouldn’t be hard to say.”
Ibraham Kayumi, 19, and Emir Balat, 18, were “both self-radicalized in recent years and traveled to Turkey and other terror-training hotspots,” the New York Post reported, citing law enforcement sources close to the investigation.
“Balat spent more than three months in Istanbul last year, while Ibrahim flew to Istanbul and Saudi Arabia in 2024 and made a trip to Melbourne, Australia in 2019, the sources said,” per the Post. “The pair admitted to cops after getting busted at the violent demonstration outside the mayor’s residence on Saturday afternoon that they also watched ISIS videos and tossed the bomb at right-wing agitators, because they felt the agitators insulted their religion, the sources said.”
Someone reportedly yelled “Allahu akbar” when the homemade bombs were thrown.
