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Pepper spray, flames: What we know about explosives thrown outside Zohran Mamdani's home in anti-Muslim protest
New York Police Department (NYPD) commissioner Jessica Tisch said two arrested were accused of handling and igniting improvised explosives.
Unrest ensued near the residence of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani while an anti-Muslim protest was being held outside, when a counter-protestor demonstrating against the “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City” event lit and threw a device at the protesting crowd.
This took place after someone from that group used pepper spray on the counterprotest.
Six people were arrested on Sunday in connection with the incident, with New York Police Department (NYPD) commissioner Jessica Tisch saying two of the individuals arrested were accused of handling and igniting improvised explosives, Bloomberg reported.
How did the situation escalate?
The incident took place late Saturday morning when someone from the anti-Islam protest associated with conservative influencer Jake Lang shot pepper spray into the counterprotesting group, the Associated Press reported.
Following this, someone in the counterprotest lit and threw a device that NYPD commissioner Tisch described as smaller than a football at the protestors.
Tisch said the device struck a barrier and extinguished itself “a few feet from police officers”, adding that the same person then ran and was given another device, which he dropped, AP reported. The commissioner said she didn't believe either Mamdani or the first lady, Rama Duwaji, were at home.
What was the device?
The devices contained nuts, bolts and screws along with a fuse, AFP news agency cited Tisch as saying. The NYPD commissioner said they appeared to be jars wrapped in black tape with nuts, bolts, and screws, as well as a hobby fuse that could be lit, Bloomberg reported. She said it was unclear if they were functioning devices or a hoax.
However, according to the Bloomberg report, witnesses reported flames and smoke before the object struck the barrier and extinguished itself. Bomb squad was deployed following the incident, and personnel transported the items in a containment vessel for further testing to determine whether they were functional improvised explosive devices or hoaxes.
Joe Calvello, spokesperson for Mamdani, said the Mayor had spoken to Tisch about the probe into the incident being conducted by the New York City Police Department and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.
