Jessica Tisch says arrests made after devices thrown near Gracie Mansion protest
People who gathered near Gracie Mansion faced a rapidly escalating safety risk Saturday, including pepper spray and objects police described as possible improvised explosive devices. In a news conference late Saturday morning, jessica tisch, New York City’s police commissioner, said multiple arrests were made as investigators worked to determine whether the devices were functional or a hoax.
Gracie Mansion crowds saw pepper spray, then two taped devices
The confrontation unfolded outside the mayor’s official residence, where two groups demonstrated: an anti-Islam protest and a larger counterprotest. Commissioner jessica tisch said about 20 people attended the protest tied to conservative influencer Jake Lang, while the counterprotest reached about 125 people at its peak.
Police said the incident began when someone from the anti-Islam protest used pepper spray on the counterprotest near Gracie Mansion. After that, Tisch said, tensions intensified and someone in the counterprotest lit and threw a device into the protesting crowd. She described the device as smaller than a football and said it contained nuts, bolts and screws and was wrapped in black tape, with a hobby fuse that could be lit.
The device struck a barrier and extinguished itself a few feet from police officers, Tisch said. She said the person then ran, and another person handed him a second device, which he then dropped. Tisch said it was unclear whether the items were functioning devices or a hoax.
Tisch said no injuries were reported. She also said she believed Mayor Zohran Mamdani was not in the residence at the time.
Jessica Tisch says multiple arrests made as investigation continues
All three people involved in the incident described at the scene were arrested, Tisch said, and an investigation was underway.
In a separate accounting of the same protest activity, New York City police officials identified an 18-year-old man, Emir Balat, as the person who threw an improvised explosive device into the crowd. Police said the device was a jar wrapped in tape and filled with nuts, bolts, screws and a fuse, and that it never detonated.
Police said Balat ran from the area and obtained another similar device from a 19-year-old man they identified as Ibrahim Kayumi, then tried to run back toward the crowd. Police said Balat allegedly dropped the device and officers arrested both men.
On Sunday evening, police said the NYPD bomb squad found a “suspicious device” inside a car near the protest site that is connected to their investigation. The car had out-of-state license plates,.
FBI serves warrants at two Bucks County homes tied to the NYC protest case
On Sunday afternoon, the FBI and local police served warrants at two homes in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in connection with violence at protests outside Gracie Mansion on Saturday. the homes were in Middletown Township and Newtown Township, north of Philadelphia.
there was no known threat to the public at either location, but asked people to stay away from the areas while teams investigated.
New York City police described the initial demonstration as an anti-Islamic event organized by a “far-right provocateur, ” and noted that a larger counterprotest gathered nearby as tensions rose between the groups.
Jake Lang, who was associated with the anti-Islam protest, was previously charged with assaulting an officer with a baseball bat, civil disorder and other crimes before receiving clemency as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping act of clemency for Jan. 6 defendants last year, Tisch said. She also said Lang recently announced he is running for U. S. Senate in Florida and has protested in Minneapolis during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
If investigators determine the devices were operational rather than a hoax, officials are expected to provide additional details after warrant work and forensic examination progress.
