Last weekend, an attempted bombing occurred outside Gracie Mansion, the official residence of New York City’s Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani (D). During a heated clash between anti-Islam protesters and a group of counterprotesters, two teenagers from Pennsylvania — 18-year-old Emir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi — allegedly threw two improvised explosive devices toward the crowd.
Fortunately, neither bomb detonated, and no one was injured. Both Balat and Kayumi were arrested and charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, using a weapon of mass destruction, transportation of explosive materials, and unlawful possession of destructive devices.
TPUSA Frontlines photojournalist Gabriel Victal was present at the scene when the attack occurred. But the attempted bombing, he says, “wasn’t the first instance” of violence.