Mamdani Instantly Names ‘Jewish Extremist Group’ in Alleged Firebomb Plot, but Drags Feet on ISIS Ties in Attack on Gracie Mansion

It is a tale of two decidedly different responses — by the New York mayor, Zohran Mamdani — to two politically charged “extremist acts.”Last week, Alexander Heifler, a 25-year-old New Jersey man, was arrested and charged with allegedly plotting a firebombing attack at the residence of Nerdeen Kiswani, the leader of the hardline anti-Israel group Within Our Lifetime. According to the criminal complaint, Mr. Heifler, who is Jewish, had spent weeks discussing with an undercover NYPD officer his plans to throw Molotov cocktails at Ms. Kiswani’s home in Brooklyn. Mr. Heifler was arrested on March 26. He is facing two federal charges of unlawful possession of firearms and the unlawful making of firearms.On March 27, Mr. Mamdani posted on X his condemnation of the supposed plot against Ms. Kiswani, first by calling out the “alleged member of the Jewish Defense League” for attempting to “blow up the home of Nerdeen Kiswani.”Then, in that same response, Mr. Mamdani added that the suspect “planned to flee to Israel after the attack.” Ms. Kiswani reposted Mr. Mamdani’s deleted post, thanking him for “this important statement.”“There has never been an NYC Mayor willing to call out Jewish extremism for what it is. I also appreciate that you clarified the JDL member planned to flee to Israel,” Ms. Kiswani added, calling it “an important detail that confirms what I have been thinking.”But Mr. Mamdani’s original X post was, at best, inflammatory.The criminal complaint against Mr. Heifler does not mention the Jewish Defense League or any other extremist group, nor does it mention supposed flight plans to Israel. The New York Times, however, quoted an unnamed New York Police Department official saying Mr. Heifler belonged to a newly formed group called the JDL 613 Brotherhood, which was described as being inspired by the long-defunct Jewish Defense League. An NYPD spokesman said on Friday that Mr. Heifler was planning to escape to Israel sometime in April, weeks after the intended attack against Ms. Kiswani.Mr. Mamdani soon amended his X post.In the amended version, which included a repost of the Times piece, Mr. Mamdani identified Mr. Heifler instead as a “member of an offshoot of the Jewish Defense League — designated by the FBI as a ‘known violent extremist organization.’”The JDL was a hardline, Jewish nationalist group that was led by Rabbi Meir Kahane, a New York-born Israeli political figure who was assassinated by an Islamic extremist in New York City in 1990 (about a year before Mr. Mamdani was born). The FBI classified the JDL as a violent extremist group in its 2000-2001 terror report, but by then the group had largely faded away. The JDL 613 group, reportedly founded in 2024, has not been classified by the FBI as an offshoot of the JDL, which is no longer believed to exist, and has not been described as an extremist group.By Monday, Mr. Mamdani struck a more measured tone. During a press conference for an on-site childcare pilot program for city workers at the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building on Monday, Mr. Mamdani told reporters he learned of the alleged plot against Ms. Kiswani after the NYPD briefed him on Friday.“I want to be very clear that we do not tolerate any kind of violent extremism in this city,” Mr. Mamdani said, looking down at what appeared to be his notes.“No one should face violence for their political beliefs or for their advocacy,” he added. Unlike his social media response on Friday, Mr. Mamdani’s response was safe and anodyne.It was not clear if Mr. Mamdani learned of certain allegations against Mr. Heifler — about the supposed JDL ties and the suspect’s alleged plans to leave for Israel — during his briefing with the NYPD on Friday, or if he was directly citing the Times. Mr. Mamdani’s office did not respond to questions from The Sun. But Mr. Mamdani’s full-throated defense of Ms. Kiswani, coupled with the meticulous breakdown of the defendant’s ties to the JDL and Israel, posted just hours after news of the assassination plot broke, was a far cry from his slow, methodical, and airbrushed response to the arrest of two Muslim men for throwing improvised explosive devices outside Gracie Mansion on March 7.The suspects in that attack, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, were among a group of counterprotesters responding to a “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City” demonstration hosted by a pro-Trump influencer and pardoned January 6 participant Jake Lang. Both Messrs. Bala and Kayumi were seen on multiple videos lighting a homemade bomb containing nuts, bolts, and the explosive TATP, commonly referred to as “Mother of Satan.” Both men were arrested immediately afterwards and identified in published reports, including the New York Times. On March 8, the Justice Department identified both men as ISIS supporters. Upon arriving at an NYPD precinct, Mr. Balat allegedly wrote on a piece of paper, “All praise is due to Allah lord of all worlds! I pledge my allegiance to the Islamic State. Die in your rage yu [sic] kuffar! Emir B.” Their alleged support of ISIS was reported on March 8.In his first public response to that incident on X, Mr. Mamdani used the opportunity to condemn, by name, “white supremacist Jake Lang” for his protest that was “rooted in bigotry and racism.”“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,” Mr. Mamdani wrote. There was no mention of Messrs. Balat and Kayumi’s arrests — arguably the best-photographed and extensively documented terror attempt in the modern age. He wouldn’t mention both men by name and the nature of their charges until March 9, two days after the incident, adding they had been “charged with committing a heinous act of terrorism and proclaiming their allegiance to ISIS” and “should be held fully accountable for their actions.” The notable disparity in the speed and detail of Mr. Mamdani’s replies was not lost on his critics on X.“Couldn’t name the affiliation of the people who actually threw IEDs at the protest, yet blames the Jews in the first sentence of this article about a guy with Everclear in his basement. Expected and pathetic,” wrote crypto investor Nic Carter. Iranian American attorney Erica Le Bon said Mr. Mamdani’s “dishonesty has truly crossed the threshold into immorality.” “There is absolutely no excuse for political violence and thank god this plot was foiled,” she added. “But my god. You may be one of the most unethical and dishonest politicians in recent memory. There is no way you don’t know what you’re doing.”This is the rude awakening for both Mr. Mamdani, whose stunning rise from Queens politician to arguably the most visible Mayor in the country has confronted him with a social media reckoning of sorts. The alleged firebombing plot against Ms. Kiswani hit close to Mr. Mamdani’s ideological orbit. The attack against Gracie Mansion was, on paper, closer to his new responsibilities. His responses to each attack suggested which proximity mattered more.The relative personal liberties shared by Mr. Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji — who was recently exposed for having “liked” or reposted several Instagram posts that celebrated the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks — are no more. Mr. Mamdani presides over the world’s largest urban Jewish population outside of Israel. Ms. Duwaji is the first lady of that city, despite Mr. Mamdani’s insistence on being a “private person who has held no formal position on my campaign or in my City Hall.”The plot against Ms. Kiswani was foiled by the NYPD’s Racially and Ethnically Motivated Extremism unit, despite Mr. Mamdani having accused the NYPD in 2020 of being “racist” and “anti-queer.” Both attacks, according to the criminal complaints, could have been mass casualty events if it were not for the work of the police force he believed was systemically bigoted. His selective condemnation of these crimes, it seems, depends on which extremists they’re catching.

Mamdani Instantly Names ‘Jewish Extremist Group’ in Alleged Firebomb Plot, but Drags Feet on ISIS Ties in Attack on Gracie Mansion

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