New York City Mayor Mamdani said during the press conference that the devices “were intended to injure, maim or worse.” Jake Lang (right) demonstrates outside Gracie Mansion. (AP Photos) An improvised explosive device (IED), which was launched near New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home during weekend protests, is being investigated as an act of terrorism “inspired by the Islamic State,” New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday.
In a press conference, the New York City Police Commissioner added that the two suspects are set to be prosecuted in federal court in connection with the incident that took place on Saturday. The improvised explosive device was activated during an anti-Islam demonstration and counter-protest. NBC News reported.
An analysis of one of the two pipe bombs, which was dropped near Gracie Mansion (the mayor’s official residence), revealed that it contained TATP, “a dangerous and highly volatile homemade explosive that has been used in improvised explosive device attacks around the world.”
Yesterday, white supremacist Jake Lang organized a protest in front of Gracie Mansion based on bigotry and racism. That hate has no place in New York City. It is an affront to our city’s values and the unity that defines who we are.
What followed was even more disturbing. Violence…
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) March 8, 2026
New York Mayor Mamdani, during Monday’s press conference, said the devices (a homemade bomb containing the famous “Mother of Satan” explosive) “were intended to injure, maim or worse.” Notably, the devices did not detonate and no one was injured.
The New York Police Department’s bomb squad conducted a preliminary analysis of a device that was ignited and deployed at a protest yesterday and determined that it is neither a hoax device nor a smoke bomb. It is, in reality, an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injuries or…
—Jessica S. Tisch (@NYPDPC) March 8, 2026
Tisch refused to link the incident to the ongoing military conflict in Iran, where the United States and Israel have launched airstrikes against Tehran. Authorities “have no information connecting this investigation to what is happening in Iran abroad,” the New York City police commissioner added.
In a post on X, Tisch said the object thrown near Gracie Mansion during Saturday’s protest was an “improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death.” He added that two devices were thrown, while the third suspicious object tested negative for explosive material.
Mamdani, New York City’s first Muslim mayor, confirmed on Monday that he, along with his wife, was at a museum in Brooklyn when the improvised explosive devices were dropped near their residence.
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“It is suspected that they came here to commit an act of terrorism. There is a video of these two individuals throwing two devices towards the protest,” said the mayor of New York.
Mamdani added: “The police department has determined that these were improvised explosive devices made to injure, maim or worse.”
