Image Credit: LEONARDO MUNOZ / Contributor / Getty Images 
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has pointedly refused to condemn two ISIS devotees who lobbed bombs outside his Gracie Mansion residence.
Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, and Emir Balat, 18, were arrested on Saturday after an improvised explosive device was thrown outside New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s house, as two competing protest groups clashed.
Both suspects are alleged to have made pro-ISIS statements while in police custody and admitted they had watched terrorist propaganda videos.
A terrorism investigation is now underway.
Authorities are investigating the two suspects’ travel history, including visits to Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Mayor Mamdani made no reference to the two radicals and their alleged links to ISIS.
Instead, he focused on condemning “white supremacy” and protest organizer Jake Lang, whose protest focused on the “Islamification” of New York City.
“Yesterday, white supremacist Jake Lang organized a protest outside Gracie Mansion 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,” the statement said.
“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.”
Six people have been arrested in connection with the incident, which took place outside Gracie Mansion, the mayoral residence.
The counter-protesters, from a group called Stand Against Hate, significantly outnumbered Lang’s group, and according to Tisch, “lit and threw an ignited device toward the protest area.”
“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.”
Two explosive devices were initially recovered.
Tisch described the devices as “a bit smaller than a football” and comprising “a jar wrapped in black tape, importantly, with nuts, bolts and screws along with a hobby fuse that could be lit.”
“We do not yet know whether the devices were a functional improvised explosive devices or hoax devices, because we don’t yet know if there was energetic material contained in them,” Tisch said.
“Both recovered devices are being transported by the bomb squad in a total containment vessel to Rodman’s neck for further testing and analysis.”
A third device was later found in a vehicle nearby.
