(The Center Square) — Two Pennsylvania teens accused of carrying out what authorities called an “ISIS-inspired attack” during a protest outside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s official residence have been indicted on a slew of federal charges.
Federal prosecutors announced the indictments Tuesday of Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, on charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction, among other charges. Both men remain in federal custody.
“As alleged, just weeks ago, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi carried out a terrorist attack on the streets of New York, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement. “They sought to murder multiple innocent victims in the name of ISIS,” The brave women and men of the NYPD responded immediately, and Balat and Kayumi were arrested on site.”
Balat and Kayumi targeted an anti-Muslim protest hosted by pardoned Jan. 6 rioter and white nationalist Jake Lang outside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s residence at Gracie Mansion, according to the eight-count indictment.
The bombs were tossed into the crowd but neither exploded. Mamdani and his wife weren’t home during the attempted attack. Another device was found nearby, which tested negative for explosives. TV reporters covering the protest captured the attempted bombing and the suspects’ arrest.
Federal authorities said they uncovered evidence revealing “meticulous planning” by the defendants, including a digital “notebook” with detailed attack plans and a storage unit containing explosive residue and bomb-making materials. The notebook included plans for a vehicle attack on locations that included festivals, parades and celebrations, federal prosecutors said.
The FBI also discovered a storage unit, rented by Balat, that contained explosive residue and bomb-making supplies, according to the indictment.
In dashcam recordings from a vehicle recovered by investigators, the two men discussed “martyrdom” and said they were hoping to incite violence in New York City by killing protesters, police and bystanders. They hoped to kill as many as 60 people in the planned attack outside Gracie Mansion, according to the indictment.
“All I know is I want to start terror bro,” Kayumi said in one exchange, detailed in the indictment. “I want to petrify these people.”
In another exchange, the two discussed potential targets for the attack, including a person referred to as “Individual-1” in the indictment, federal prosecutors said.
“Just can’t wait for that bomb to go off and his freaking head, his body to get split in half bro, dead,” Balat said, according to the indictment.
New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch called the botched bombing “an ISIS-inspired act of terrorism with the potential for mass casualties.”
“It was stopped because of the quick-thinking, decisive actions of the men and women of the NYPD, who moved toward the threat and took these individuals into custody before more lives were put at risk,” Tisch said in a statement.
