{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreigpyo6more6i55izcc5kicpox5wcise62jd4rqlgc5sgxyvvueg5m",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:qdzcgmgri7npfs46puqpnnjo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgnhyiwcjpk2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreiauukb4wabcvbjnz6z64ydndblu5tx77y5zs6d3gynlazun6rh6kq"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/webp",
    "size": 110300
  },
  "path": "/news/1980194/pair-charged-with-terrorist-offences-for-throwing-explosives-near-a-protest-outside-new-york-mayor-mamdanis-residence",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-09T18:04:25.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.dawn.com",
  "tags": [
    "World",
    "near the protest on Saturday"
  ],
  "textContent": "Two men were charged on Monday with “terrorist” offences for throwing a nail bomb near a weekend protest, after which the pair told police they were aligned with the militant Islamic State (IS) group, charging documents showed.\n\nThe two men, both US citizens, are in custody after allegedly being involved in tossing the bomb packed with explosives.\n\n“This is being investigated as an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said, using another name for the Islamic State group.\n\nShe said it was not thought to be linked to the ongoing conflict in Iran.\n\nNo one was hurt during the incident.\n\nTwo suspicious devices were thrown by a man identified by police as Emir Balat near the protest on Saturday, led by a far-right influencer to oppose public Muslim prayer.\n\nAccording to the charging document, the men “referred to ISIS in recorded post-arrest statements … More specifically, Balat wrote on a piece of paper that he pledge(d) allegience (_sic_) to the Islamic State.”\n\nThe men were charged with five counts, including attempted support of a “foreign terrorist organisation” and “use of a weapon of mass destruction”.\n\nOn Sunday, the police bomb squad inspected a car connected to the men near the scene. Tisch said a suspicious device found in the vehicle tested negative for explosives.\n\n## ‘Flames and smoke’\n\nPolice had said on Saturday that the devices were jars wrapped in tape and containing nuts, bolts and screws. Also arrested was Ibrahim Kayumi.\n\nThe events unfolded after the far-right influencer, Jake Lang, staged a demonstration outside Gracie Mansion, the official residence of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.\n\nLang was protesting alleged “Islamification” and calling for an end to “public Muslim prayer” in New York.\n\nHis protest drew around 20 people while a counter-protest drew about 125.\n\nMamdani was not home during the incident.\n\nLang returned to the scene of the incident on Monday and was outside Mamdani’s official residence.\n\n_AFP_ correspondents at the scene on Saturday saw a man wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and beige cargo pants — later identified as Balat — being handed a device wrapped in tape and billowing smoke by another man, named by police as Kayumi.\n\nBalat dropped the device near a line of police before vaulting a barrier.\n\n“Witnesses reported seeing flames and smoke as it travelled through the air before it struck a barrier a few feet from police officers,” Tisch said on Saturday.",
  "title": "Pair charged with terrorist offences for throwing explosives near a protest outside New York Mayor Mamdani’s residence"
}