Two men, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, have been arrested in connection with throwing 'suspicious devices' during protests outside Gracie Mansion, the official residence of NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The devices, described as smaller than a football, were made from a sports drink bottle filled with explosive material, set inside glass jars and surrounded by fragmentation.
FBI agents searched the homes of Kayumi in Newtown and Balat in Langhorne, and the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force has launched a terrorism investigation. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the devices could have caused 'serious injury or death.'
The devices contained triacetone triperoxide, a volatile explosive material, and were found to be connected to an M80-type firework. Another suspicious device was found in a vehicle on East End Avenue, prompting limited evacuations of buildings in the vicinity.
