NYC Gracie Mansion bomb suspects hoped to kill up to 60 people
Federal prosecutors say the two men charged in an ISIS-inspired bomb attack outside Gracie Mansion in Manhattan hoped to kill up to 60 people and discussed other possible ways to carry out the attack, including using a large vehicle or targeting a café.
The new details were disclosed Tuesday when a federal grand jury in Manhattan indicted brothers Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, over the March 7 attack outside Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence in New York City.
According to the indictment, the two acted in the name of ISIS and attempted to detonate two improvised explosive devices containing shrapnel and triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, a highly volatile explosive used in multiple terrorist attacks over the last decade.
According to the indictment, a dashboard camera recovered from the suspects’ vehicle captured Kayumi saying, “All I know is I want to start terror bro,” and “I want to petrify these people.” Balat allegedly said he was targeting “the government” and “civilians also.”
Balat also said he had “calculated it” and that the bomb was “gonna kill about 8 to 16 people,” or as many as 30 to 60 if the area was crowded, according to the indictment.
After his arrest, prosecutors say, Balat told investigators he had wanted the attack to be “even bigger” than the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. When asked if he was familiar with that attack, he allegedly replied: “No, even bigger. It was only three deaths.”
Authorities also found handwritten notes in the vehicle outlining an apparent alternate plan for an attack by vehicle. The notes described an “ideal vehicle” as “load bearing,” “large in size,” “reasonably fast,” and “heavy in weight,” and listed possible targets including “festivals,” “parades,” “protest,” and “celebrations.”
The notes also included “steps to making napalm,” according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors also say Balat discussed other options if the main plan failed. According to the indictment, he said that if the primary plan “doesn’t work,” they “could also throw it in the café.” He also allegedly said: “I’m gonna just start attacking police.”
Prosecutors say Balat and Kayumi drove from Pennsylvania to Manhattan on the morning of the attack and parked near Gracie Mansion, where opposing protests were taking place. At about 12:15 p.m. Balat ignited and threw one improvised explosive device toward the area where protesters were gathered, then ran down the block, where Kayumi handed him a second device.
Balat then ignited and dropped the second device on the ground near several NYPD officers before running from the scene. Officers arrested Balat shortly afterward, and Kayumi was arrested nearby moments later.
The indictment says both devices were covered in heavy gray tape and had a green fuse attached. Forensic analysis found that the devices consisted of a glass jar wrapped in duct tape and containing nuts, bolts, an energy drink can filled with TATP and a fuse.
Officials later searched a storage unit in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, that Balat had rented days before the attack, according to the indictment. Agents said they found two bowls containing TATP residue, numerous bottles including one labeled 12% hydrogen peroxide, syringes, a digital scale, gloves, an open package of nuts and bolts, and glass jars similar to those used to build the devices.
The indictment also says officers found a long coil of green fuse, a roll of heavy-duty tape and a notebook inside the vehicle used by the two suspects. Other handwritten notes listed “acetone peroxide synthesis” and “TATP explosive,” along with ingredients, bomb components and steps for constructing and detonating a bomb.
After his arrest, prosecutors say, Balat told officers: “This isn’t a religion that just stands when people talk bad about . . . our prophet. We take action! We take action!” and “If I don’t do it, someone else will come and do it.”
After waiving his Miranda rights, Balat allegedly wrote: “All praise is due to Allah lord of all worlds! I pledge my allegience [sic] to the Islamic State. Die in your rage yu [sic] kuffar! Emir B.”
Kayumi also mentioned ISIS after his arrest, according to the indictment. Prosecutors say that when someone in the crowd asked why and on whose behalf he had done it, Kayumi responded: “ISIS.” After waiving his rights, he allegedly told agents he had watched “radical content” online.
The indictment charges both men with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, provision and attempted provision of material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
They are also charged with carrying explosives during the commission of a federal felony, transportation of explosive materials, interstate transportation and receipt of explosives, and unlawful possession of destructive devices.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
