Pennsylvania Pair Who Threw Makeshift Bombs at Gracie Mansion Plead Not Guilty

The two young men, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, accused of hurling two makeshift bombs during a clash between protesters near Gracie Mansion in early March, pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges on Wednesday. Prosecutors told the court they needed more time to analyze the men’s laptops and phones. Mr. Kayumi, 19, and Mr. Balat, 18, came to New York from Pennsylvania, where they both grew up, with the alleged attempt to detonate homemade bombs outside of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s official residence on Saturday, March 7. On that day, two separate protests had clashed at Gracie Mansion. One protest was called “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City, Stop New York City Public Muslim Prayer.” It was led by pardoned January 6 protester Jake Lang, who has emerged as a leader of protests against illegal immigration and Islamic influence in America. Mr. Lang had brought a live goat with him and about 20 followers, one of whom carried a cooked pig in a direct reference to Islamic dietary rules.Left wing counter-protesters had gathered to confront Mr. Lang and his supporters. The opposition rally called itself “Run Nazis Out of New York City.” At approximately 12:15 p.m., Mr. Balat ignited and hurled an explosive device toward the area where the protesters from both groups had gathered, the criminal complaint alleges. Immediately after throwing the first device, Mr. Balat ran down the block and was handed a second explosive from Mr. Kayumi, federal prosecutors wrote and photographs taken during the incident show. After seemingly igniting the second device, Mr. Balat dropped it in the vicinity of several officers from the New York Police Department, who were monitoring the protests. Mr. Balat then ran away from the officers. Luckily, he was caught by the vigilant policemen, tackled to the ground and arrested, as was his alleged companion Mr. Kayumi. In a heroic act NYPD Assistant Chief Aaron Edwards jumped over a barricade, leading the chase after the two alleged assailants. The picture of Mr. Edwards hopping over the fence went viral. According to the indictment, the two men had discussed their plan to detonate their improvised bombs in the car on their way to the city, and to attack Mr. Lang, allegedly hoping for the “bomb to go off” and kill Mr. Lang, wishing it would hit Mr. Lang’s “freaking head,” and “his body to get split in half bro…” Their conversation was recorded on the dashcam, and detailed in the indictment. “All I know is I want to start terror, bro,” Mr. Kayumi allegedly said to Mr. Balat, according to the indictment. “And I want to petrify these people.”Mr. Balat allegedly responded, “Just for safety, as soon as you light it, just do it as soon as possible. Because I was testing the fuses, and some just go really fast sometimes, and some just are a bit slower.” Later, Mr. Balat allegedly asked, “Oh yeah, what do you think, are they going to remove the airplanes for us… over New York? Are they going to stop them? If we do the attack and the bombs go off and everything,” Mr. Balat allegedly said, adding, “I’m gonna just start attacking (the) police.” But he allegedly also wanted to attack “the government” and “civilians also.” He allegedly explained, “what I have here is called TATP…”Tatp identifiers, or TATp, are a semi-stable crystalline solid, containing acetone peroxide, and are extremely sensitive to impact, friction, static electricity, and heat. They are also known as “Mother of Satan.” Mr. Balat allegedly told Mr. Kayumi, he had “160 grams” and put “80 in both,” in both devices. He had “calculated it” and was going to “kill about 8 to 16 people,” or perhaps as many as 30 to 60 people, depending on how crowded the streets were, the indictment details. Mr. Balat allegedly gave instructions to Mr. Kayumi, telling him that he should “hide” the devices and that he was going to give him a “sign.”“I’m going to say 3, 2, 1, and I’m going to take it out as fast and controlled as possible. We light it, as soon as you see it going underhand, go in his direction, trying to aim at him and at his feet. And then run to the car. Together.” Mr. Balat stated, as described in the indictment. “Just can’t wait for that bomb to go off,” Mr. Kayumi allegedly responded, adding “Bro, this is so cool.”Mr. Balat also had a backup plan, if the first attempt “doesn’t work,” he allegedly said in the car, they “could also throw it (the device) in the café.”The FBI searched the car, in which the two men had allegedly traveled to New York, which was registered to a relative, and found a notebook with instructions on how to make a bomb and plans for another terrorist plot. The agents also searched a storage unit storage at Langhorne, Pennsylvania, which Mr. Balat had allegedly rented a few days before the attack, where they found “explosive residue and bombmaking supplies.” “In the center of the floor inside the Storage Unit,” federal prosecutors wrote, “was a piece of paper containing the handwritten words, ‘All praise is due to Allah!!! [D]ie in your rage ya kuffar!’” US District Judge Vernon Broderick ordered the two defendants, who appeared in court wearing beige prison garb, to be held without bail.

Pennsylvania Pair Who Threw Makeshift Bombs at Gracie Mansion Plead Not Guilty

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