ISIS-Inspired Gracie Mansion Bomb Plot: Two Pennsylvania Teenagers Charged After TATP Devices Thrown at Jake Lang Protest
Two teenagers from Bucks County, Pennsylvania drove to New York City on a Saturday morning with homemade bombs and a declared allegiance to ISIS — targeting a far-right rally outside Mayor Zohran Mamdani's home. The investigation has since expanded to a Pennsylvania storage unit where FBI bomb technicians detonated additional explosive materials overnight.
What Happened Outside Gracie Mansion
The chaos began Saturday afternoon when pardoned Jan. 6 attacker Jake Lang organized an anti-Islam protest outside Gracie Mansion, bringing a roasted pig and a goat to denounce what he called a "takeover" of the city by Muslims. About 20 supporters joined him while a counterprotest drew more than 120 people.
Balat and Kayumi crossed the George Washington Bridge at 11:36 a.m. and parked at 12:05 p.m. — arriving in New York City just one hour before they were arrested.
Balat tossed a jar-sized device containing the explosive TATP into the crowd. The object also contained a fuse and an exterior layer of duct-taped nuts and bolts. It extinguished itself steps from police officers. He then retrieved a second device from Kayumi, lit it, ran, and dropped it near officers before being tackled and arrested. Both were taken into custody on the spot.
TATP, Allegiance to ISIS, and a Chilling Ambition
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch drew no ambiguity in her assessment: "This was a planned attack motivated by extremist ideology and inspired by a violent foreign terrorist organization."
On body-worn camera footage recorded in the back of an NYPD vehicle, Balat said: "This isn't a religion that just stands when people talk about the blessed name of the prophet... We take action!" He then waived his Miranda rights and wrote a pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State.
Body camera footage from officers who arrested Kayumi shows him responding "ISIS" to someone in the crowd asking why he had done it. Kayumi told police he had watched ISIS propaganda on his phone.
Balat told investigators he wanted to carry out an attack even bigger than the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, which he noted resulted in "only three deaths."
Pennsylvania Storage Unit Yields More Explosives
The investigation widened rapidly beyond New York. Overnight Monday, FBI bomb technicians conducted controlled detonations of explosive residue found at a public storage facility in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, near where Balat's family lives. The explosion resulted in "several loud bangs," the Middletown Township Police Department confirmed.
Surveillance video obtained by NBC News shows Balat driving to a Phantom Fireworks store in Penndel, Pennsylvania on March 2 — five days before the attack — and purchasing a single 20-foot roll of green safety fuse with cash, after registering his identification with a store employee. Investigators are separately examining whether unexplained explosion sounds in Pennsylvania in January can be linked to the two suspects.
Federal Charges and Who These Men Are
The Southern District of New York charged Balat and Kayumi with five counts: attempted material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, use of a weapon of mass destruction, transportation of explosive materials, interstate transportation and receipt of explosives, and unlawful possession of destructive devices. Both were held without bail.
Balat is 18, a senior at Neshaminy High School who enrolled in a virtual program in September and had not attended in-person classes since. Kayumi, 19, graduated from Council Rock High School North in 2024. Their lawyer indicated the two had not known each other long and drove to the city in a vehicle borrowed from an associate who was unaware of their plans.
Mamdani and Tisch Respond
Mayor Mamdani and his wife were not at Gracie Mansion at the time of the attack. Speaking afterward, he made a point of defending the right to protest — even Lang's rally.
"Anti-Muslim bigotry is nothing new to me, nor is it anything new for the 1 million or so Muslim New Yorkers who know this city is our home," Mamdani said. "I will not waver in my beliefs that it should be allowed to happen. Ours is a free society where the right to peaceful protest is sacred."
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton put the federal government's position plainly: "Violence that is meant to chill free speech, violence that is meant to keep us from assembling peaceably, will be met with swift justice."
