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New York City police said suspicious devices were ignited Saturday during clashing protests outside Gracie Mansion, the official residence of Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Six people have been arrested.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters in a Saturday evening news conference that an anti-Islam protest was organized by people associated Jake Lang, a pardoned Jan. 6 rioter and far-right influencer, and was called “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City/Stop New York City Public Muslim Prayer.”
The protest drew about 20 participants, Tisch said, beginning at about 11 a.m. near East End Avenue and East 87th Street. A counterprotest called “Run the Nazis Out of New York City/Stand Against Hate” drew about 125 participants, Tisch said.
NYPD officers arrived on the scene and separated the groups into designated protest areas, police said.
Tensions between the two groups began escalating, and at around 12:15 p.m., an individual from the initial protest used pepper spray against the counter-protesters, police said. Tisch said a suspect was later arrested.
Tisch said that shortly after 12:30 p.m., a counter-protester, identified as 18-year-old Emir Balat, lit and threw an ignited device toward the protesters. According to Tisch, witnesses saw flames and smoke as the device struck a barrier in a crosswalk, a few feet away from police officers. The device then extinguished itself.
Balat allegedly then ran away and retrieved a second device from 19-year-old Ibrahim Nikk, lit the device and started running with it before dropping eventually dropping the device, Tisch said.
Both Balat and Nikk were taken into custody. Tisch said the incident was captured by NYPD cameras.
The NYPD Bomb Squad was called in to examine the devices, which Tisch described as jars wrapped in black tape with nuts, bolts, screws and a hobby fuse that could be lit. The police commissioner said it was unclear at this time whether the devices were functionable improvised explosive devices or hoax devices. They are being taken for further police testing and analysis.
Police are continuing to search the area for additional hazards, but Tisch said no other devices have been found at this time.
Tisch said there is no indication that the incident was related to the war with Iran. She also told CBS News that she was unable to confirm if Mamdani and his wife were home at the time of the protests.
“I believe they were not,” she said.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Mamdani said that “the ‘Crusade Against Islamification’ gathering held outside Gracie Mansion today by Jake Lang, a vile white supremacist, was despicable and Islamophobic. Thankfully, the Mayor and the First Lady are both safe, though the events are a stark reminder of the threats they both face regularly. The Mayor has spoken with Police Commissioner Tisch, and the NYPD is actively investigating the protest, counter-protest, and suspicious devices discovered outside Gracie Mansion.”
The NYPD said a total of six arrests were made at the protests, including Balat, Nikk and the suspect involved in the pepper spray incident, who was not identified.
An additional three arrests were made for disorderly conduct and obstructing traffic. The investigation is ongoing.
