Men who brought explosives to NYC protest cited Islamic State as
inspiration, complaint says
[March 10, 2026]
By JAKE OFFENHARTZ, MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ
NEW YORK (AP) — Two men who brought explosives to a far-right protest
outside New York City's mayoral mansion said they were inspired by the
Islamic State extremist group, according to a court complaint.
Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, were being held without bail
after a court appearance Monday on charges that include attempting to
provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and using a
weapon of mass destruction. Their lawyers didn't argue for bail but
could do so later.
The homemade devices, which did not explode, were hurled Saturday during
raucous counterprotests against an anti-Islam demonstration led by Jake
Lang, a far-right activist and critic of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani,
a Democrat and the first Muslim to hold the office.
“Balat and Kayumi sought to incite fear and mass suffering through this
alleged attempted terror attack in the backyard of an elected city
official,” James Barnacle, who runs the FBI's New York office, said at a
news conference after the brief court session.
The defendants said nothing in court, but Kayumi smirked and looked over
at Balat as the judge read part of the complaint alleging they acted in
support of the Islamic State group. Balat stared ahead at the defense
table.
According to the complaint, Kayumi blurted out, as he was being arrested
Saturday, that “ISIS” was the reason for his conduct. Balat later told
authorities that he had pledged allegiance to the extremists, and Kayumi
asserted that he was affiliated with the group, the complaint said.
Officers asked Balat whether he was aiming to accomplish something akin
to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and wounded
hundreds more.
“No, even bigger,” Balat replied, according to the complaint.
Lawyer says he doesn't believe the suspects knew each other
Emir Balat’s lawyer, Mehdi Essmidi, said outside court that his client
is a Philadelphia-area high school senior with “complicated stuff going
on” in his personal life. “There’s a lot to figure out,” the attorney
added.
Asked whether he believed Balat was a terrorist, the lawyer said: “I
believe he’s 18 and he doesn’t have any idea what he’s doing.”
Kayumi’s lawyer, Michael Arthus, pointed in court to the extensive
publicity surrounding the case and asked that prosecutors avoid saying
anything that could prejudice potential jurors.
No one answered the door at a home listed as belonging to one of
Kayumi's relatives in Newtown, Pennsylvania. At a home where neighbors
said Balat lives in nearby Langhorne, a young man declined to comment
when a reporter knocked on the door.
The FBI said Monday it has conducted multiple searches in connection
with the investigation, including of a Pennsylvania storage unit.
A spokesperson for Neshaminy High School, located in Langhorne,
confirmed that Balat is in his senior year there. He has not attended
in-person classes since enrolling in the district’s virtual program this
past September, according to a note sent to parents Monday by the
district's superintendent.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said neither defendant had a criminal
history. Essmidi said he didn’t believe the two young men had known each
other for long.
“They are not known to each other. They do not live together. They did
not have friendly, family or school ties,” Essmidi said. "There is no
reason to believe they knew each other prior to this incident, and I
don’t know how well they knew each other at the time of this incident.”
[to top of second column]
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Police detain Emir Balat after he attempted to detonate an
improvised explosive device during a counterprotest against far
right influencer Jake Lang staging an anti-Islam protest outside
Gracie Mansion, Saturday, March 7, 2026, in New York. (AP
Photo/Julius Constantine Motal)
Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi commented on social media
that authorities “will not allow ISIS’s poisonous, anti-American
ideology to threaten this nation.”
No ties to Iran war, police say, as prosecutor vows ‘swift
justice’
Tisch said there are no indications that the attack was connected to
the ongoing war in Iran.
An automated license plate reader captured the defendants entering
New York City from New Jersey less than an hour before the noontime
attack, according to the complaint. Kayumi's mother filed a missing
person report, saying she last saw him around 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
The men's vehicle — registered to one of Balat’s relatives — was
discovered Sunday, a few blocks from where they were arrested. A
search of the car turned up a fuse, a metal can, and a list of
chemical ingredients and components that could be used to build
explosives, the complaint said.
Lang's sparsely attended protest Saturday drew a far larger group of
counterdemonstrators. Amid the faceoff, Balat tossed a jar-sized
device that contained the explosive TATP into the crowd, the
complaint said. The object also contained a fuse, plus an exterior
layer of duct-taped nuts and bolts, the complaint said.
The device extinguished itself steps from police officers. According
to the complaint, Balat then ran down the block and collected a
second, similar device — which has yet to be tested for explosives —
from Kayumi. Balat dropped it near some police officers and tried to
run away, the complaint said. Police tackled Balat and soon arrested
him and Kayumi.
“Violence that is meant to chill free speech, violence that is meant
to keep us from assembling peaceably, will be met with swift
justice,” Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said at a news
conference Monday.
Protester arrested on unrelated charges
The scene had grown chaotic even before the devices were thrown.
Police said one person involved in the anti-Islam demonstration, Ian
McGinnis, 21, was arrested after he pepper-sprayed counterprotesters.
McGinnis, of Philadelphia, was released without bond after pleading
not guilty Sunday to assault and aggravated harassment in a New York
court, records show. His attorney, Steven Metcalf, said Monday that
McGinnis was defending himself from counterprotesters.
Three others were arrested but released without charge.
Lang, who's running for U.S. Senate in Florida, was charged with
assaulting an officer and other offenses during the Jan. 6
insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. He was later freed from prison as
part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping act of clemency.
While Mamdani spoke to reporters Monday morning at the mayoral
residence, Gracie Mansion, Lang heckled from outside the gates.
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