March 8 (Reuters) – New York City Police said on Sunday a device that was ignited and thrown during protests outside Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home over the weekend was an explosive that could have caused serious injury or death.
The device, a jar filled with nuts, bolts and screws and wrapped in black tape with a fuse, was thrown by a counterprotester on Saturday outside Gracie Mansion, but it extinguished itself before any explosion, according to a statement from New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Two people were in custody, Tisch said.
The device was one of two that were thrown during the protests, which were led by two opposing groups, according to police. The second device was still being examined, Tisch said.
Far-right activist Jake Lang led a protest on Saturday outside Gracie Mansion – where Mamdani lives with his wife – against a purported Islamic “takeover” of New York City and against public prayer by Muslims. Tisch said at a press conference on Saturday that she did not believe Mamdani and his wife were home at the time.
In a statement on Sunday, Mamdani condemned Lang’s protest but said the violence that followed it was more disturbing.
“Violence at a protest is never acceptable,” Mamdani said. “The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are.”
Lang’s protest, which consisted of about 20 people, was opposed by a far larger counterprotest of 125 people aimed at running “Nazis” out of New York, Tisch said at a press conference on Saturday. Police said Emir Balat, 18, was among the counterprotesters before he lit and threw the device.
The device rolled near police before it extinguished itself, Tisch said on Saturday. Balat ran after throwing it and eventually lit and dropped a second device in the street, according to Tisch.
Balat and another man, whom police on Sunday identified as Ibrahim Kayumi, were arrested at the scene, Tisch said. New York police are working with the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice on the investigation.
Tisch said on Saturday there was no immediate indication the incident was related to the U.S. attack on Iran, but that authorities were still investigating.
(Reporting by Diana Novak Jones in Chicago; Editing by Sergio Non and Matthew Lewis)
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