ALBAWABA - Two people were arrested on Saturday on suspicion of attempting to detonate explosive devices during an anti-Islam protest outside the official residence of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Chaos erupted outside Gracie Mansion after the area witnessed a "Crusade Against Islamification" gathering, led by right-wing activist and protestor Jake Lang. The right-wing activist recently held and organized other protests, including a pro-ICE gathering in Minneapolis.
According to The Independent, both devices thrown by 18-year-old counter-protester Amir Balat emitted smoke and flames but didn't explode. Balat threw the first device at the gathering, but it failed to detonate, so he ran to his 19-year-old accomplice and allegedly got another one.
2 arrested over suspected explosive devices outside Zohran Mamdani's residence
NYPD arrested both Balat and his 19-year-old accomplice. An NYPD spokesperson told the news outlet that no injuries or property damage were reported during the incident.
The police department revealed that Zohran Mamdani was inside his residence during the incident. Press Secretary and Chief Spokesperson for Mamdani described Jake Lang as a "vile white supremacist" who was "despicable and Islamophobic."
Lang took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, "I just survived an assassination attempt by these two Muslim men; The homemade bomb they threw landed 3 feet in front of me. The detonator failed to ignite, because God is on the throne of my life. We will never surrender to Islam."
