NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A newly-released video shows the moment that a group of NYPD officers tackled a suspect in what NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and court documents called an "ISIS-inspired" bombing attempt at Gracie Mansion earlier this month.
In the video, someone can be heard shouting "What is that?" repeatedly, before exclaiming "Bomb! Bomb!"
Officers are seen scoping out the area within and behind sidewalk barriers, and then suddenly running in quick pursuit of 18-year-old suspect Emir Balat, who allegedly hurled an improvised explosive device at the mayor's residence on March 7. The video shows one officer gets him to the ground, before a larger group of officials helps restrain him and control the crowd in order to bring him into custody without incident.
Balat and his alleged accomplice, 19-year-old Ibraham Kayumi, are facing federal charges that include attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction. They are currently being held without bail.
The incident unfolded during a “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City” event led by the far right activist Jake Lang outside Mayor Zohran Mamdani's residence in the Upper East Side, which turned into dueling demonstrations when counterprotestors arrived to challenge Lang.
Balat and Kayumi live in the suburbs of Philadelphia and allegedly drove together to New York City to carry out the attack.
Photos from the scene show Balat throwing a device, smoking with a lit fuse, that law enforcement officials later said was found to contain explosive TATP. The object extinguished itself without harming anyone.
Balat then dropped a second object near some police officers and tried to run, but was tackled and arrested, according to a court complaint.
FBI bomb technicians found explosive residue at a public storage facility near where Balat's family lives, the agency said. Controlled detonations of the explosive residue resulted in "several loud bangs."
“Violence at a protest is never acceptable,” Mamdani said in a statement the day after the attempted attack. “The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.