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The FBI is launching a terrorism investigation after police said somebody threw explosive devices near the New York City mayor's official residence during a protest on Saturday. WNYC's Catalina Gonella reports.
CATALINA GONELLA, BYLINE: On Sunday, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at least one of the two devices police recovered at the scene could have caused serious injury or death. Tisch says 18-year-old Emir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi deployed the devices during protests on the street near Gracie Mansion. One was an anti-Muslim demonstration organized by far-right influencer Jake Lang. The other was a counterprotest. Here's how Commissioner Tisch initially described the devices on Saturday.
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JESSICA TISCH: Based on preliminary examination and X-ray imaging, the devices, which were a bit smaller than a football, appear to be a jar wrapped in black tape, importantly, with nuts, bolts and screws, along with a hobby fuse that could be lit.
GONELLA: Tisch says Balat lit and threw the first device toward the protest area. He then allegedly got a second device from Kayumi and dropped it nearby before officers rushed in and arrested them. Four other people were arrested. The FBI's joint terrorism task force is now investigating. Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is New York City's first Muslim mayor, condemned the initial protest, saying it was, quote, "rooted in bigotry and racism."
He also denounced the use of an explosive device as, quote, "reprehensible." Police say the ignited device extinguished itself and no one was injured. On Sunday, the NYPD bomb squad removed a third device from inside a nearby vehicle. Officials described it as suspicious.
For NPR News, I'm Catalina Gonella in New York.
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