Federal authorities have charged two men accused of plotting to bomb a protest in New York City in an alleged ISIS-inspired attack on Saturday, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement Monday.
Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, both of Pennsylvania, were charged Monday with trying to support the Islamic State group and use of a weapon of mass destruction, records show.
Bondi announced the charges in a post on X, saying the two were linked to extremist ideology and planned to carry out a bombing targeting a public demonstration in the city.
"We have charged the two alleged ISIS-inspired terrorists who attempted to bomb a protest in New York City," Bondi wrote.
"We will not allow ISIS's poisonous, anti-American ideology to threaten this nation. Our law enforcement officers will remain vigilant."
The homemade devices, which did not explode, were hurled Saturday outside New York City's Gracie Mansion, the mayor's official residence, during protests against an anti-Islamic demonstration led by Jake Lang, a conservative activist and critic of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and the first Muslim to hold the office.
According to the complaint, Kayumi blurted out as he was being arrested that "ISIS" was the reason for his conduct.
Balat later told authorities that he had pledged allegiance to the terrorist organization, and Kayumi asserted that he was affiliated with the Islamic State group, the complaint said.
Law enforcement officials have long warned that ISIS propaganda continues to inspire people in the U.S. and abroad to attempt attacks without direct coordination from the group's leadership.
These "ISIS-inspired" plots often involve those who consume extremist material online and try to carry out attacks independently.
Bondi said the charges reflect the Department of Justice's continued focus on preventing terrorism in the U.S.
Officers asked Balat whether he was aiming to accomplish something akin to the bombing of the Boston Marathon in 2013, when two pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the finish line, killing three people and wounding hundreds more.
"No, even bigger," Balat replied, according to the complaint.
Speaking on Monday morning outside the mayoral residence, Mamdani said Balat and Kayumi "traveled from Pennsylvania and attempted to bring violence to New York City."
Mamdani and his wife weren't home during the protest.
Lang's sparsely attended protest drew a far larger group of counterdemonstrators. Amid the face-off, Balat tossed a jar-sized device that contained the explosive TATP into the crowd, the complaint said.
It also contained a fuse and an exterior layer of duct-taped nuts and bolts.
The device extinguished itself steps from police officers.
According to the complaint, Balat then ran down the block and collected a second, similar device from Kayumi, dropped it near police officers, and tried to run away.
Police tackled Balat and soon arrested him and Kayumi.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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