Conservative activist Jake Lang, who led an anti-Muslim protest outside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s official residence, claimed to have survived an “assassination attempt” by “two Muslim men” when explosives were thrown during the rally and counter-protest.
Amid the chaos, authorities arrested six people linked to the unrest, including two accused of handling and igniting improvised explosive devices near Mamdani’s residence.
What did Jake Lang say?
In a post on X showing footage of the protest, Lang was seen running away from the blast along with other protesters from his group.
The conservative activist shared the video and wrote: “I just survived an assassination attempt by these two Muslim men. The homemade bomb they threw landed 3 feet in front of me.”
“The detonator failed to ignite because God is on the throne of my life,” Lang said further, adding, “We will never give up on Islam.”
Here’s what we know about the incident so far:
– An anti-Muslim riot led by Lang began around 11 a.m. ET near East End Avenue and East 87th Street, near Mamdani’s residence.
– Bloomberg reported that Lang’s anti-Muslim protest drew around 20 agitators, while another counter-protest held at the same time drew about 125 people.
– Shortly before noon, tensions between the two groups escalated when a protester affiliated with Lang’s protesters used pepper spray against protesters and was later arrested, police said.
– The 18-year-old man then ignited and threw the lit device toward the protest zone, landing in a crosswalk near officers in what Lang and his supporters described as a “nail bomb” in a video shared on X.
“The man then allegedly obtained a second device from the 19-year-old, lit it on fire and dropped it along East End Avenue,” police said.
– Both suspects were subsequently detained by the police along with four others.
(This is a developing story. Check back for updates)
