Mamdani said the couple was not home on Saturday when two men allegedly ignited a homemade explosive device during a protest outside Gracie Mansion.
NYPD investigates ‘ISIS-inspired’ explosives near Gracie mansion
New York City police have begun investigating a device found near Mayor Zoran Mamdani’s home.
Two men accused of setting off homemade bombs during a protest outside New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani’s official residence said they were inspired by Islamic State, according to a federal complaint.
Emir Barat, 18, and Ibrahim Qayumi, 19, of Pennsylvania, were indicted on Monday, March 9, on federal charges of attempted support of ISIS and use of a weapon of mass destruction, records show.
Barratt, a high school senior, told investigators he wanted an “even bigger attack” than the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, which killed three people and injured hundreds, according to an unsealed complaint. According to federal charging documents, Qayumi claimed to be affiliated with ISIS.
The records were unsealed on March 9 after New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the incident was being investigated as an “ISIS-inspired act of terrorism.”
Tisch said two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were ignited outside Gracie’s residence on Saturday, March 7, and a third suspicious device was found in a nearby vehicle. Tisch said one of the devices contained triacetone triperoxide (TATP), a “dangerous and highly volatile homemade explosive used in IED attacks around the world.”
The device was ignited during a confrontation between protesters and counter-protesters during a rally organized and led by conservative influencer Jake Lang. The protest, titled “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City,” took place near the home of Mamdani, Manhattan’s first Muslim mayor.
Mamdani said Barat and Qayumi, who authorities say were counter-protesters, were seen on video throwing explosives at demonstrators, adding that the explosives were designed “to cause injury, harm or worse.”
Tisch said investigators “have no information” linking the explosives to the United States and Israel’s ongoing war with Iran. New York City officials have stepped up patrols of houses of worship and deployed National Guard troops to transit hubs in response to a “heightened threat environment.”
At a press conference on Monday, March 9, Mr. Tisch addressed statements made by Mr. Barratt and Mr. Qayumi during and after their arrest. On the way to the New York Police Department, Barratt made a spontaneous statement that was captured on police body-worn camera footage, she said.
“He said, ‘This is not a religion where people just talk about the blessed name of the Prophet. We take action, we take action,'” Tisch said. “And, ‘If I don’t do it, someone else will come and do it.'” Later, after waiving his rights, he asked for a piece of paper and wrote a message that partially declared: “I pledge allegiance to the Islamic State.” Die in rage, Kuffar. ”
“Death in anger” is a common slogan used by ISIS, Tisch said, and kuffar is an Arabic word meaning “unbeliever.”
Meanwhile, Tisch said that when Kayumi was arrested at a protest and was being loaded into a police vehicle, a member of the crowd asked him, “Why did you do this?”
“He answered ‘ISIS,'” she said, adding that in a statement recorded at the police station after his arrest, Qayumi said he had been watching ISIS propaganda on his cellphone and that some of his actions that day were inspired by ISIS.
Rebecca Weiner, the NYPD’s deputy chief of intelligence and counterterrorism, said the damage caused by the explosives could have been substantial.
“TATP (triacetone triperoxide) is very dangerous and very volatile,” Weiner said, adding that the controlled detonation of two IEDs recovered from protests by NYPD and FBI bomb technicians “revealed significant explosions. It is very important to note that these IEDs could have caused death and destruction if they had been working the way the perpetrators wanted them to.”
Police discover third potential explosive device, evacuate apartment
The New York Police Department is investigating a third explosive device found in a car linked to Barratt and Kayumi, who traveled from Pennsylvania to Manhattan, officials said. The device matched two other homemade explosives and prompted the evacuation of nearby buildings as police used robots to secure the scene.
Mamdani on Monday thanked police for their quick response.
“They were facing a chaotic situation that could quickly become even more dangerous,” he said.
Mamdani criticized the initial protests as “despicable” and “rooted in white supremacy” but vowed to protect people’s right to peacefully protest.
“While I found these protests appalling, I remain steadfast in my belief that they should be tolerated,” he told reporters. “I will defend that right every day that I am mayor, even if the people who protest say things I find abhorrent.”
The mayor and his wife, Rama Duwaj, were not at home at the time of the incident.
FBI searches teen girl’s home, local school district releases statement
FBI agents searched Barratt’s home in Middletown Township, Pennsylvania, several neighbors who witnessed the incident told USA TODAY Network’s Bucks County Courier-Times.
A quiet street in Northeast Philadelphia was crowded with police on Sunday, March 8, as officers and SWAT vehicles arrived at Barratt’s home and ordered everyone inside to leave, neighbors said. According to neighbors, three people ran outside with their hands raised.
Middletown police confirmed in a statement to the Courier Times that the FBI executed a “court-authorized search warrant as part of a federal investigation related to an incident that occurred yesterday in New York City.”
Barratt is currently a senior at Neshaminy High School, the school district confirmed in a statement.
Kayumi is a 2024 graduate of Council Rock North High School in Northampton Township, Pennsylvania, according to a statement from Superintendent Andrew Sanko.
“Council Rock administration is in contact with law enforcement. At this time, there is no information indicating a threat or connection to Council Rock schools,” Sanko said.
The address associated with Kayumi in public records is in the affluent Makefield Reserve neighborhood of Newtown Township. Attempts to contact Barratt and Kayumi’s families in person or by phone were unsuccessful.
Contributed by Jo Ciavaglia and JD Mullane, Bucks County Courier Times
Christopher Cann is a national breaking news reporter for USA TODAY. Email us at ccann@usatoday.com.
