Two teenagers arrested at Gracie Mansion on March 7 now face an eight-count federal indictment that accuses them of carrying homemade explosive devices to an anti-Islam protest outside the New York City mayor’s home and trying to detonate them. Prosecutors said Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, drove from Pennsylvania to the site with bombs and discussed killing people before the protest began.
The indictment says Balat lit one device and threw it toward protesters, then received another from Kayumi and dropped it near several police officers while trying to flee. Prosecutors said the pair were part of a protest scene organized by far-right provocateur Jake Lang and about 20 supporters under the name Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City.
What makes the case heavier than a routine arrest is the language prosecutors say was captured on dashboard camera video. In the car, the teens allegedly talked about possible casualties, with Kayumi saying, “All I know is I want to start terror, bro” and “I want to petrify these people.” Balat allegedly said the plan could “kill about 8 to 16 people” and, if the crowd was larger, as many as 60 victims. He also allegedly said, “Just can’t wait for that bomb to go off and his [Individual-1’]s’ freaking head, his body to get split in half, bro, dead.”
Balat and Kayumi were charged with conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, among other counts. Prosecutors said Balat also wrote, “All praise is due to Allah lord of all worlds! I pledge my allegience [sic] to the Islamic State. Die in your rage yu [sic] kuffar! Emir B.”
The indictment ties the case directly to an anti-Islam protest outside Gracie Mansion, where an anti-Lang counter-protest was also taking place, and to prosecutors’ claim that the teenagers were Islamic State supporters. While being taken to the police precinct, Balat allegedly shouted, “This isn’t a religion that just stands when people talk bad about … our prophet. We take action! We take action!” Kayumi also waived his rights and noted he had consumed “radical content” online, according to prosecutors.
The two are expected to be arraigned on April 15, and the filing leaves the central question in plain view: whether the government can prove the alleged bomb plot was not just talk captured on a car video, but a coordinated attempt to turn a protest into a mass-casualty attack.
