On Sunday, New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch provided an update on Saturday’s incident outside the Gracie Mansion, the official residence of Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji.
Tisch confirmed that the explosive devices thrown at protestors Saturday was a not a hoax device. Additionally, she said suspects Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, arrested in connection with the incident and are currently in custody. Reports said that six others were arrested in the incident Saturday in New York City.
The incident unfolded at the Upper East Side mansion when a group of far-right, anti-Muslim protestors had gathered outside. Smoke-generating suspicious devices were thrown at the protestors, leading to clashes and chaos.
On Sunday, Commissioner Tisch provided an update on the probe into the devices.
“The NYPD Bomb Squad has conducted a preliminary analysis of a device that was ignited and deployed at a protest yesterday and has determined that it is not a hoax device or a smoke bomb,” she wrote. “It is, in fact, an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death.”
Zohran Mamdani Hits Out At Jake Lang
In an X post on Sunday, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani hit out at far-right activist Jake Lang, who was behind Saturday’s protest outside Gracie Mansion. He said that such protests have “no place in New York City” and described it as “an affront to our city’s values and unity”.
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“Yesterday, white supremacist Jake Lang organized a protest outside Gracie Mansion rooted in bigotry and racism. Such hate has no place in New York City,” he wrote. It is an affront to our city’s values and the unity that defines who we are. What followed was even more disturbing.
“Violence at a protest is never acceptable. The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are.”