Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, are facing serious allegations including transporting explosives, possessing destructive devices unlawfully, and moving explosives across state lines, as detailed in a federal criminal complaint.

According to the complaint, footage from body cameras revealed an exchange where, during Kayumi’s arrest by the NYPD, a bystander questioned his motives. Kayumi reportedly responded with “ISIS,” as shared by NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch during a press briefing on Monday (Tuesday AEST).

After voluntarily relinquishing his Miranda rights, Kayumi admitted to watching ISIS propaganda videos on his phone, stating that this influenced his actions on that day, Tisch reported.

Balat, without police prompting, declared, “This isn’t a religion that idly stands by when the Prophet’s name is invoked. We take action… If I didn’t do it, someone else would,” Tisch recounted.

The court document also disclosed that Balat confessed to swearing loyalty to the extremist group.

When questioned about his familiarity with the Boston Marathon bombing and his intentions to achieve something of that magnitude, Balat allegedly replied, “No, even bigger. It was only three deaths,” as per the complaint.

“These were ISIS-inspired actions, and it is chilling that they wanted to do something more than the Boston Marathon, more than three deaths,” Jay Clayton, US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at the press conference.

CNN is working to determine whether the men have legal representation.

The first improvised explosive device was thrown as anti-Islam protesters clashed with counterprotesters and did not explode.

The same man who threw the IED lit a second bomb, dropped it on the street and ran, the police commissioner said. It also did not explode.

“Preliminary test results determined that these were not hoax devices, nor smoke bombs. They were improvised explosive devices that could have caused serious injury or death,” Tisch said at a news conference Monday morning with the mayor.

A third device – found Sunday – is being investigated “in connection with” Saturday’s incident, NYPD said. That device tested negative for explosive material, Tisch said.

The violence Saturday erupted during an anti-Islam protest organized by a right-wing provocateur that was dwarfed by a crowd of more than 100 counterprotesters, officials said.

It only took one hour from the time the suspects crossed the George Washington Bridge into the city to their arrest after tossing the IEDs, Tisch said.

They do not have criminal histories, she added.

The clash unfolded during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Mamdani, who is the city’s first Muslim mayor, said he and his wife, Rama Duwaji, were not at Gracie Mansion at the time.

“The police department has determined that these were improvised explosive devices made to injure, maim or worse,” Mamdani said at the news conference.

“Anyone who comes to New York City to bring violence to our streets will be held accountable in accordance with the law.”

How opposing protests boiled over

An anti-Islam protest organized by right-wing influencer Jake Lang drew about 20 participants. It was outnumbered by a counterprotest called “Drive the Nazis Out of New York,” which peaked at about 125 people, the police commissioner said.

The dueling groups were separated into designated areas, but tensions escalated shortly before noon. Around 12.15pm, a protester associated with Lang’s group pepper-sprayed counterprotesters, Tisch said.

Twenty minutes later, a counterprotester “threw an ignited device toward the protest area,” which landed on a crosswalk, Tisch said.

Video shows protesters and police officers scrambling to get away from where the device landed.

“Witnesses reported seeing flames and smoke as it traveled through the air before it struck a barrier and extinguished itself a few feet from police officers,” the commissioner said.

The man then retrieved a second device from another man before lighting it and starting to run, Tisch said. He dropped the second device on the street, where it appeared to emit smoke but also did not explode.

Officers arrested Balat and Kayumi, who are both from Pennsylvania, police said.

“Emir Balat is a student in Neshaminy School District, currently 12th grade,” a district spokesperson said in an email to CNN.

A large law enforcement presence was seen Sunday around one of the arrested teenagers’ homes in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, according to CNN affiliate KYW.

The FBI was conducting “court authorized law enforcement activity” in the area but didn’t provide details, KYW reported. CNN has reached out to the FBI for information.

Authorities in Pennsylvania’s Middletown Township and Newtown areas “have indicated that there is no known threat to the surrounding community,” Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick posted Sunday night on Facebook.

The police commissioner declined to detail what made investigators believe the incident may be inspired by ISIS, but said more details could emerge Monday afternoon after a criminal complaint is unsealed. Tisch and the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York will hold a news conference Monday afternoon.

The anti-Islam protester accused of using pepper spray was also arrested, Tisch said. Another three people were arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct and obstructing traffic.

Bolts, screws and powerful explosive material

Both devices recovered Saturday were slightly smaller than footballs and appeared to be jars wrapped in black tape containing bolts, screws and a hobby fuse, Tisch said, citing the NYPD bomb squad’s preliminary analysis.

The first device apparently was made with an unstable material called TATP, the commissioner said.

“TATP is a dangerous and highly volatile homemade explosive that has been used in IED attacks around the world,” Tisch said.

The second device was still being analyzed.

Mamdani said Saturday’s anti-Islam protest was “rooted in bigotry and racism” – but what followed was “even more disturbing,” he said in a statement Sunday.

“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,” the mayor said.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said while “the Islamophobic protests that triggered all this is abhorrent,” she also condemned those who reacted violently.

“Neither belongs in New York – the reaction to the protest or the protest itself,” Hochul said. “Yes, you have a right to protest. But this was all outside the bounds.”

Mamdani lauded the bravery of NYPD officers who “faced a chaotic situation that very quickly could have become far more dangerous.”

At the news conference with Tisch on Monday, the mayor commended NYPD Assistant Chief Aaron Edwards and Sgt. Luis Navarro, who “ran towards the danger so that others could run to safety.”

On Sunday, the NYPD said it was investigating the third device in a vehicle a few blocks south of Gracie Mansion “in connection with” Saturday’s incident.

The area was blocked off, and “limited evacuations” of buildings were conducted while the bomb squad examined and removed the device for further testing, police said.

A Honda Civic was removed on a flatbed truck around 7 p.m. Sunday, and the streets were reopened.

This was the first time in nearly a decade that IEDs targeted residents in the nation’s largest city, Tisch said.

“The last time that an IED targeting people was deployed in New York City was in 2017, when Akayed Ullah detonated a device strapped to his torso in the pedestrian underpass connecting the Port Authority bus terminal and the Times Square subway station,” she said.

“No one other than the attacker was injured in that incident. And once again, we were fortunate that the devices used this weekend did not cause the kind of harm that they were certainly capable of causing.”

James Barnacle, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office, thanked the NYPD officers who ran toward the devices knowing they could detonate.

“If it weren’t for the bravery of two New York’s finest we could have had a much more tragic incident,” he said.

Barnacle thanked other agencies involved in the investigation, including Customs and Border Protection, the Port Authority Police Department as well as FBI divisions in other cities.

“The collective efforts across all these agencies … thwarted a potentially devastating day in this city.”

A ‘heightened threat environment’

Both the police chief and the governor said they’re ramping up resources to protect the public.

“We have been in a heightened state of alert in New York City since the start of hostilities in Iran, and we remain in that posture,” Tisch said.

“We will continue to deploy additional counterterrorism resources throughout New York City, including heavy weapons teams, canine units, aviation and more,” the police chief said.

And “as the investigation into the terrorist attack near Gracie Mansion and military action in Iran continue,” the governor posted on X. “New York State remains in a heightened threat environment.”

More than 1,000 members of the National Guard have been deployed on state active duty, protecting critical transit sites across New York City, Hochul said. And state police “are increasing their presence at sensitive sites across New York.”

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