The two men were counterprotesting an anti-Islam rally near Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s official residence on March 7 when police said they tried to ignite suspicious homemade devices.
NEW YORK − Two men protesting an anti-Islam rally near the official residence of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on March 7 are in custody after police said they tried to ignite suspicious homemade devices.
At around 11 a.m., New York City police officers were on scene for a scheduled demonstration in Manhattan led by pardoned Jan. 6 rioter Jake Lang, a 30-year-old far-right conservative influencer.
The rally, labeled “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City,” drew about 20 people to the area around East End Avenue and 88th Street, near Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence, according to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch in an evening news briefing. Mamdani is the first Muslim mayor of New York City.
A counterprotest, dubbed “Run the Nazis out of New York City,” took place nearby with up to 125 people, Tisch said. Police separated the two groups, she said.
Tensions escalated just before noon. At around 12:15 p.m., police arrested a person in Lang’s group who is accused of using pepper spray against counterprotesters, Tisch said. NYPD hasn’t identified the suspect.
Minutes later, around 12:38 p.m., a counterprotester, identified as Emir Balat, 18, lit and threw an ignited device toward Lang’s area, landing in the crosswalk, Tisch said. The device struck a barrier and extinguished a few feet from police.
The man then ran away and got a second device from Ibrahim Nikk, 19, Tisch said. Balat ran with the second device and dropped it, Tisch said, adding the incidents were captured on police camera.
Police took both men into custody. No charges have been filed at this time, NYPD said.
The NYPD bomb squad took the two devices, which were both slightly smaller than a football, Tisch said. Based on preliminary examination and X-ray imaging, she added the devices appeared to be jars wrapped in black tape and filled with nuts, bolts and screws. The jars had hobby fuses that could be lit.
Tisch said it’s unknown if the devices could explode or if they were hoaxes. Both devices are being tested further.
The scene is undergoing additional search by police for other potential bomb threats. Police said there were no injuries or property damage.
There’s no indication the incident was related to the war in Iran, but the investigation is ongoing, Tisch said.
The incident came during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar.
It wasn’t clear if the mayor or first lady Rama Duwaji were at Gracie Mansion. In a statement, City Hall spokesman Joe Calvello said both Mamdani and Duwaji are safe.
Calvello called the gathering by Lang “despicable and Islamophobic.”
President Donald Trump, upon returning to office in 2025, pardoned Lang and nearly 1,600 others charged for their involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot during Trump’s failed effort to overturn the 2020 election. Federal prosecutors accused Lang of assaulting police at the Capitol using an aluminum baseball bat and riot shield.
Lang is now a candidate in the Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat in Florida.
This story was updated with new information.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at [email protected] or on Signal at emcuevas.01.
