New York City police identify device outside mayor Mamdani’s home as explosive
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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is believed not to have been at home when the device was thrown outside Gracie Mansion.
PHOTO: REUTERS
New York City police said on March 8 that a device ignited and thrown during protests outside Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home at the weekend was an explosive that could have caused serious injury or death.
The device, a jar filled with nuts, bolts and screws and wrapped in black tape with a fuse, was thrown by a counter-protester on March 7 outside Gracie Mansion but extinguished itself before any explosion, according to a statement from New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Two people were in custody, Ms Tisch said.
The device was one of two that were thrown during the protests, which were led by two opposing groups, according to police. The second device was still being examined, Ms Tisch said.
Far-right activist Jake Lang led a protest on March 7 outside Gracie Mansion – where Mr Mamdani lives with his wife – against a purported Islamic “takeover” of New York City and against public prayer by Muslims. Ms Tisch said at a press conference on March 7 that she did not believe Mr Mamdani and his wife were home at the time.
In a statement on March 8, Mr Mamdani condemned Mr Lang’s protest but said the violence that followed it was more disturbing.
“Violence at a protest is never acceptable,” Mr Mamdani said. “The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are.”
Mr Lang’s protest, which consisted of about 20 people, was opposed by a far larger counter-protest of 125 people aimed at running “Nazis” out of New York, Ms Tisch said at a press conference on March 7. Police said Mr Emir Balat, 18, was among the counter-protesters before he lit and threw the device.
The device rolled near police officers before it extinguished itself, Ms Tisch said on March 7. Mr Balat ran after throwing it and eventually lit and dropped a second device in the street, according to Mr Tisch.
Cyclists and a New York Police Department vehicle outside Gracie Mansion in the Upper East Side neighbourhood of Manhattan in New York City.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Mr Balat and another man, whom police on March 8 identified as Mr Ibrahim Kayumi, were arrested at the scene, Ms Tisch said. New York police are working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Department of Justice on the investigation.
Ms Tisch said on March 7 there was no immediate indication that the incident was related to the US attack on Iran, but that the authorities were still investigating. REUTERS
