The two suspects arrested on charges of throwing an IED at anti-Islam protesters outside Gracie Mansion in New York City Saturday are U.S. citizens born to foreign parents who were naturalized years ago.
Eighteen-year-old suspect Emir Balat’s parents were naturalized in 2017 after immigrating from Turkey, while 19-year-old suspect Ibrahim Kayumi’s parents were naturalized in the 2000s after immigrating from Afghanistan, according to Fox News’ Bill Melugin.
The authorities were looking into the IED-throwing incident as a possible act of terrorism, in part because one of the two suspects referenced ISIS while speaking to investigators.
Below is video footage of one of the suspects in action.
WARNING: The following video includes content that some may find disturbing.
The clearest video yet of the terrorist who attempted to throw an explosive at the protest yesterday in NYC.
The NYPD Officer jumping after him over the barricades is an absolute hero. pic.twitter.com/j2R2JsctXB
— Benny Polatseck (@BPolatseck) March 8, 2026
The two suspects allegedly threw an IED at an anti-Islam crowd while yelling “Allahu Akbar.”
The IEDs were homemade bombs containing the “Mother of Satan,” which the New York Post described as “a volatile explosive favored by international terrorists.”
“The dangerous substance can be cobbled together using household ingredients readily available at home improvement stores and pharmacies, making it cheap to produce,” the Post noted.
“It’s designed to maim and kill,” a source told the paper. “This is just luck no one is dead.”
New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed in a tweet that the device was “not a hoax device or smoke bomb.”
The NYPD Bomb Squad has conducted a preliminary analysis of a device that was ignited and deployed at a protest yesterday and has determined that it is not a hoax device or a smoke bomb. It is, in fact, an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or…
— Jessica S. Tisch (@NYPDPC) March 8, 2026
Congressional Republicans responded to the failed terror attack by calling for immigration reform, particularly for immigration from Muslim-majority countries.
Speaking on Fox News, Texas Rep. Chip Roy noted that this failed attack was the second in just a matter of days. On March 1 in Austin, an Islamic mass shooter wearing a shirt that read “Property of Allah” opened fire at a bar in Austin, killing three innocent people.
“You don’t really have to do a deep level of investigation to look and see what the motives are here,” Roy said of the bar attack, in addition to the IED-throwing incident
“Look, when you’ve imported 18,000 people that are affiliated with terrorists as happened under the Biden administration, with illegal aliens coming here or through other programs, when you’ve allowed almost five million people to be imported into the United States since 9-11 from majority Muslim countries, then you’re gonna have a problem here at home,” he added.
🚨JUST IN: Rep. Chip Roy criticizes Muslim migration after attempted NYC bombing.
“When you’ve allowed almost 5 MILLION people to be imported into the United States since 9-11 from majority Muslim countries, then you’re gonna have a problem here at home!”pic.twitter.com/3i0G4Y8Dsu
— Derrick Evans (@DerrickEvans4WV) March 9, 2026
Meanwhile, Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles has indicated his intention to introduce a bill that would bar immigration from certain Muslim nations.
“Mass Islamic immigration, legal or illegal, has transformed America and brought destructive consequences,” he told Fox News. “America’s moral exemplar is a meek carpenter who rose from the dead, not a warmonger with 12 wives and countless slaves. My bill will preserve this truth.”
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