Feds say 2 teens who threw IEDs at protesters and police wanted attack to be worse than Boston Marathon bombing

Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi.

Two teenage suspects who were seen on video preparing and then throwing improvised explosive devices at demonstrators and police during a protest outside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's Gracie Mansion residence on Saturday were hit with a slew of federal charges on Monday, including use of a weapon of mass destruction. 

Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, were charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS, using a weapon of mass destruction, transporting explosive materials, interstate transportation and receipt of explosive materials, and unlawful possession of destructive devices. Neither of the two bombs went off during the attempted attack on Saturday and police quickly arrested the two men.

NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch announced the charges at a press conference in New York City on Monday.

According to the criminal complaint filed against Balat and Kayumi, authorities say the suspects had pledged their support to the notorious terror group ISIS and intended for the attack to be deadlier than the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, The New York Post reported. Kayumi reportedly told investigators the two were inspired by ISIS, had watched ISIS propaganda videos and even admitted being affiliated with the terrorists.

Investigators said that the duo revealed their intention was trigger a disaster worse and more deadly that the bombing attack on the Boston Marathon in April 2013. “No, even bigger. It was only three deaths,” Balat told investigators, referring to the Tsarnaev brothers using IEDs to kill 3 and wound hundreds near the race's finish line 13 years ago. 

Tisch described the attempted attack on Saturday, directed at a protest organized by a right-wing activist who was leading a protest agains Mamdani, as “an ISIS-inspired act of terrorism.” The two suspects were seen being led out of an NYPD precinct in handcuffs on Monday. Balat was seen making a hand gesture known to be a salute to ISIS while TV cameras were focused on him.

The two teens are both second generation Americans who live with their immigrant parents in upscale parts of Pennsylvania, in the Philadelphia suburbs. According to CBS News, Kayumi's parents immigrated from Afghanistan and were naturalized in 2004 and 2009. Balat's parents came to the U.S. from Turkey and were naturalized in 2017. 

Investigators say the two IEDs, which failed to detonate, were packed with screws, bolts and an explosive known as the "Mother of Satan," The Post reported. Below, watch a portion of Tisch's press conference.