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Early on Monday afternoon, two teens in white plastic jumpsuits were escorted into a Manhattan federal courtroom. Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, who were shackled and handcuffed, quietly took their seats at the defense table.
If not for the metal restraints and jail garb, Balat, 18, and Kayumi, 19, could have been any number of young men who carry themselves with an aura of discomfort about their place in America.
Balat, a high school senior and Kayumi, a recent graduate, are accused Islamic State supporters who allegedly traveled from Philadelphia’s suburbs to New York City on Saturday with plans to detonate explosives outside Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home.
Their court appearance marked an apparent inflection point at a time of heightened crisis in the US. Balat and Kayumi allegedly confessed to being inspired by IS, while the US has launched a bombing campaign against Iran to support Israel, which is also attacking Lebanon.
The alleged attempted bombing also unfolded against the backdrop of a Christian nationalist demonstration against Mamdani, New York’s first Muslim mayor, amid rising Islamophobia. This incident also took place as Mamdani has emerged as a symbol of opposition to Donald Trump and his far-right Maga movement.
Despite the tensions, there was no immediate reason to think that the planned rally could devolve into potentially deadly chaos.
At about midday on 7 March, far-right provocateur Jake Lang and 20 acolytes traveled toMamdani’s residence, Gracie Mansion. Lang and his supporters were planning to protest in a rally called “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City”. He brought a goat.
That Lang, a pardoned January 6 rioter with a predilection for military garb, planned to picket outside Gracie Mansion came as little surprise in this political climate. Mamdanihas faced significant Islamophobia during his political ascent.Trump’s war on Iran has heightened tensions still more. And several rightwing members of Congress recently posted openly anti-Muslim missives on X.
A counter-demonstration – “Run Nazis Out of New York City” – drew 100 protesters to Gracie Mansion in a scene described as “surreal” by the New York Times. Hot dogs and eggs were reportedly tossed, and several counter-protesters were struck with pepper spray. Several attendees even spiraled into fisticuffs.
At about 12.15pm, disorder nearly turned deadly.
Federal authorities allege that Balat lit and threw an “explosive device” toward the area where protesters were gathered. Balat then ran down the block and allegedly picked up a second device from Ibrahim Kayumi. Balat allegedly ignited the second explosive and “dropped” it near several New York police officers, and then bolted over a barricade. Balat was then “tackled and arrested” by police, as was Kayumi, authorities said.
Each device was the size of a jar that might hold spaghetti sauce or home-made jam. Nuts and bolts were attached to the outside. One device contained an explosive called TATP. The chemical, “colloquially known as the ‘mother of Satan’” due to its sensitivity to impact and heat, “has been used in multiple terrorist attacks over the last decade”, authorities said.
Almost immediately after their arrest, still more troubling details emerged about an incident that could easily have proved fatal.
On his way to the police station, Balat, according to a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, said: “This isn’t a religion that just stands when people talk about the blessed name of the prophet … We take action! We take action! If I didn’t do it, someone else will come and do it.”
At the precinct, Balat asked for a piece of paper. “All praise is due to Allah lord of all worlds! I pledge my allegience [sic] to the Islamic State. Die in your rage yu [sic] kuffar! Emir B,” he allegedly wrote.
Police asked Balat if he knew about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Was that what he was trying to accomplish? “No, even bigger. It was only three deaths,” Balat allegedly said.
Kayumi similarly voiced support for the Islamic State, authorities said. As he was being put into a police vehicle, someone in the crowd shouted: why did you do this?
“ISIS,” he said, per the criminal complaint.
The teens’ alleged mention of IS dovetails with other recent terror attacks that have left US communities in shock and fearful that there could be more radicalization as Trump’s bombing of Iran plays out.
A man rammed his vehicle into a Michigan synagogue on Thursday in what the FBI was considering a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community”. The man, a naturalized US citizen, lost four family members during a recent Israeli airstrike in Lebanon. He was killed by security guards before injuring synagogue staff or 140 school children there.
A gunman who killed one person and injured two others at Old Dominion University in Virginia on Thursday had ties to terrorism. Mohamed Jalloh, a former member of the army national guard, in 2016 pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to Islamic State.
Authorities are also investigating the 1 March mass shooting in Austin that left three dead and 14 injured as a potential act of terrorism. The shooter, a Senegalese national and naturalized US citizen, wore a hoodie that said “Property of Allah”. Police, who believe he acted alone, killed him at the scene.
Mamdani’s statement on the New York incident decried violence. It read: “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.”
Mamdani added: “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.”
Conservatives, such as former NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly’s son Greg Kelly, took issue with Mamdani’s language.
“Imagine that: a bomb goes off in New York City, laid by ISIS-inspired terrorists. The mayor points at white supremacy as the problem; white supremacy – if only we could get rid of those white supremacists,” he said.
Balat and Kayumi’s path toward becoming alleged would-be bombers remains unclear.
Balat’s father, from Turkey, was granted asylum in the US 18 years ago and later obtained citizenship. Court documents cited by the Associated Press indicated that he described himself as a painter, with three children.
Kayumi’s parents, who per the New York Times became US citizens after emigrating from Afghanistan, are entrepreneurs, owning and working in several Popeyes fried chicken restaurants, AP said.
Two of Balat’s former schoolmates told Gothamist that he mostly kept to himself. For a time, Balat even had a sneaker resale business.
Their courtroom demeanor on Monday also did little to explain their alleged descent into attempted terrorism.
At about 1.15 pm, they were escorted into the courtroom in Tyvek-like coveralls. They were constrained by shackles as well as handcuffs that appeared to have a slight red edge to them.
They did not speak while entering the courtroom. Balat, with mussed up curls, appeared to have a small scab or two on his right elbow. Kayumi, with a close-cropped haircut, had a beard.
Judge Gary Stein went over charges against them: attempted provision of material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization; use of a weapon of mass destruction; transportation of explosive materials; interstate transportation and receipt of explosives; and unlawful possession of destructive devices. If convicted, they could face decades in federal prison.
Balat’s attorney, Mehdi Essmidi, spoke to reporters after his court appearance. Esmidi repeatedly noted his client’s young age and said he believed the men were strangers to each other.
“I believe he’s 18 and he doesn’t have any idea what he’s doing,” Essmidi said. He described Balat as a “good student,” mere credits shy of graduating.
Balat had “complex stuff going on” in his life. His family was made up of “good, hard-working, decent people who had absolutely no idea”.
Both Balat and Kayumi’s families seemed to have achieved the American dream. Balat’s parents lived in a $653,000 home that boasted four bedrooms and 3,200 sq ft; Kayumi’s family lived in a $2.24m, six-bedroom house, according to the New York Daily News.
Kayumi’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment, including a request for a statement from his family.
According to the criminal complaint, Kayumi’s mother filed a missing person report on Saturday. Kayumi’s father, Khayer Kayumi, told the New York Times the family grew fearful when he didn’t return home.
“If he’s going to be five minutes late, he calls,” he said. “Maybe he had killed himself … We didn’t know what was going on.”
