‘All I know is I want to start terror bro.’ Teens indicted for allegedly carrying out ISIS-inspired attack outside Gracie Mansion
The indictment includes chilling details about evidence recovered from inside the vehicle that Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi allegedly used to drive across state lines, with at least three homemade explosives in tow, to carry out the March 7 attack.
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Jay Clayton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, says two Pennsylvania teens were indicted in connection with an ISIS-inspired attack outside Gracie Mansion, the home of Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The indictment includes chilling details about evidence recovered from inside the vehicle that Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, allegedly used to drive across state lines, with at least three homemade explosives in tow, to carry out the March 7 attack.
The duo is accused of throwing the explosives into a crowd during a protest called “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City, Stop New York City Public Muslim Prayer” and its counter-protest called “Run Nazis Out of New York City.”
Prosecutors say both devices contained a substance called TATP, which is commonly referred to as “Mother of Satan” and has been used in multiple terror attacks in the past.
Investigators recovered dashcam footage from the vehicle, which prosecutors say captured conversations between the teens during their drive.
During the recording, Kayumi allegedly says, “All I know is I want to start terror bro,” and “I want to petrify these people.”
Later on, Balat is accused of stating, “What I have here is called TATP.” He stated it would kill “about eight to 16 people,” or if detonated in a crowded area, he claimed it would take up to 60 lives.
Authorities also obtained a notebook that contained handwritten lists of ingredients, equipment and steps about how to safely craft and detonate a bomb, according to prosecutors.
FBI agents searched a Pennsylvania storage unit that Balat rented prior to the attack, where they found bomb-making supplies, including residue, ingredients and equipment that aligned with the devices thrown on March 7.
Here, they also discovered a handwritten note stating “All praise is due to Allah!!! Die in your rage ya kuffar!”
Balat was tackled and arrested the day of the attack, after he dropped the second device, while Kayumi was taken into custody nearby a short time later.
While officers were driving Balat to the precinct, he told them, “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.”
During Kayumi’s arrest, a person in the crowd yelled, asking why he did this, and he responded, essentially, with the word “ISIS.”
“Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi planned this attack, transported explosive devices, and came to New York City intending to kill innocent people, as alleged in the indictment,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “What they allegedly set in motion was an ISIS-inspired act of terrorism with the potential for mass casualties. It was stopped because of the quick-thinking, decisive actions of the men and women of the NYPD, who moved toward the threat and took these individuals into custody before more lives were put at risk. I thank our partners at the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District for their work in securing this indictment. Anyone who seeks to bring terror to this city will be found, stopped, and held accountable.”
The teens face a slew of charges, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years to life behind bars.
These include conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and more.
