Counter-protester lights explosive amid anti-Mamdani protest, utters 'Allahu Akbar' — but NYC mayor rips 'bigotry and racism'

A counter-protester lit what police said was an explosive device during a protest Saturday against Mayor Zohran Mamdani in New York City. The counter-protester also was caught on video uttering "Allahu Akbar" as police were arresting him.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Sunday announced that the device was real — not a hoax device or smoke bomb, WNYW reported.

'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.'

"It is, in fact, an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death," Tisch said on X.

A second deployed device was still being analyzed Sunday.

The initial protest, called “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City,” was led by Jake Lang; police called Lang a "far-right provocateur." The protest outside Gracie Mansion — the mayor's residence — drew a counter-protest dubbed “Run The Nazis Out Of NYC.”

Fistfights erupted between the two sides, the New York Times reported.

Tisch stated during a press conference following the altercation that counter-protester Emir Balat, 18, “lit and threw an ignited device.”

“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,” Tisch said.

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One of the devices deployed at Saturday's dueling protests in New York City. Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty Images

Balat then ran to retrieve a similar device from another man — identified as 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi — lit the device, ran toward the protest, and dropped it, WNYW-TV reported.

Balat and Kayumi were arrested at the scene Saturday and were in custody in connection with the devices, police told the station. It isn't clear if the device that was determined to be an explosive was the one that was thrown or the one that was dropped.

“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,” Tisch added.

A video circulated online showed a male hurling one of the devices reportedly into the crowd of anti-Mamdani protesters. A separate clip showed NYPD officers arresting the same male, who repeatedly uttered “Allahu Akbar.”

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Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty Images

No explosions or injuries were reported.

Lang described the incident as a direct threat to his life: “Americans Christians WILL NOT be intimidated by ISLAMIC TERROR ATTACKS!!!. Last night after the attempted assassination on my life with a F**KING NAILBOMB in NYC.”

However, Mamdani's press secretary Joe Calvello had a different take in a statement to WNYW in an earlier story: "The ‘Crusade Against Islamification’ gathering held outside Gracie Mansion today by Jake Lang, a vile white supremacist, was despicable and Islamaphobic."

On Sunday, Mamdani released a statement also condemning Lang as a “white supremacist” and claiming his protest was “rooted in bigotry and racism.”

“Such hate has no place in New York City. It is an affront to our city’s values and the unity that defines who we are,” Mamdani also wrote.

While the mayor condemned the use of an explosive device, he did not acknowledge that police said it was carried out by a counter-protester. Not to mention that the suspect repeatedly uttered "Allahu Akbar" during his arrest.

“What followed was even more disturbing. 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,” Mamdani said of the deployment of the explosive device.

Article III Project’s Mike Davis slammed Mamdani for failing to "condemn" the "Islamists" police arrested.

“Has your wife praised the terrorists yet? Are you sad the bombs didn’t detonate? Resign,” Davis stated.

“The Trump Justice Department must bring federal terrorism and related charges. There is no chance justice will get delivered by the Islamic Caliphate of New York,” Davis added.

Journalist Nick Sortor in a social media post reacted as follows: “In Mamdani’s New York City, Islamists throwing BOMBS at Pro-Christian protestors while screaming ‘ALLAHU AKHBAR’ is apparently NOT considered terrorism. 9/11 was forgotten awfully quickly.”

Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) blamed the violence on “a serious radicalization problem on both the far left and the far right.”

“No one should be surprised,” Adams wrote in a post on social media. “After years of hateful rhetoric and incitement, attempts to justify attacks on Jews in Israel, praise for violence like the killing of a CEO, and chants about ‘globalizing the intifada’ and ‘Death to America,’ words have now escalated into violence on the streets of New York City, with explosives being thrown.”

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