(Bloomberg) — Authorities have arrested six people linked to riots during an anti-Muslim protest outside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s residence that prompted a bomb squad response and a terrorism investigation.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said two of the people arrested were accused of handling and igniting improvised explosive devices that looked like jars wrapped in black tape with nuts, bolts and screws attached and fitted with hobby fuses. Mamdani is the first Muslim mayor of New York.
The incident began around 11 a.m. near East End Avenue and East 87th Street, where a demonstration organized by conservative influencer Jake Lang drew about 20 participants. A nearby counter-protest against Lang’s group drew about 125 people at its peak, Tisch said.
Shortly before noon, tensions escalated when a protester affiliated with Lang’s group used pepper spray against protesters and was later arrested, according to police.
The 18-year-old man then ignited and threw the burning device towards the protest area, landing on a crosswalk near police officers. Witnesses reported flames and smoke before the object hit a barrier and went out a few feet from police, Tisch said. The man then allegedly retrieved a second device from the 19-year-old, lit it on fire and dropped it along East End Avenue before both were taken into custody.
Tisch said she did not believe Mamdani or the first lady, Rama Duwaji, were home at the time. Bomb squad technicians transported the items in a containment vessel for further testing to determine if they were working improvised explosive devices or hoaxes.
Joe Calvello, a spokesman for Mamdani, called the rally “despicable and Islamophobic” and described Lang as a “disgusting white supremacist”. He said Mandani spoke with Tisch about the investigation into the incident, which is being conducted by the New York Police Department and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.
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