‘Deport their entire families’: NYC ‘Mother of Satan’ explosive attack investigated as ‘ISIS-inspired terrorism’
The head of New York City police says the weekend attack by two pro-Muslim extremists who allegedly threw a homemade bomb at the home of Mayor Zohran Mamdani packed with the volatile explosive known as “Mother of Satan” is being probed as an act of Islamic terror.
“This is being investigated as ISIS-inspired terrorism,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a Monday morning news conference.
“We do not have any information that connects this to what’s going on overseas in Iran.”
The clearest video yet of the terrorist who attempted to throw an explosive at the protest yesterday in NYC.
The NYPD Officer jumping after him over the barricades is an absolute hero. pic.twitter.com/j2R2JsctXB
— Benny Polatseck (@BPolatseck) March 8, 2026
The pair, identified as Ibraham Kayumi, 19, and Emir Balat, 18, of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, are accused of throwing the improvised explosive devices consisting of sports-drink bottles filled with triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, a substance favored by terrorists and known as “Mother of Satan,” which is so volatile that it typically doesn’t require a fuse to go off, according to the New York Post.
The Post reported: “The pair admitted to cops after getting busted at the violent demonstration outside the mayor’s residence on Saturday afternoon that they also watched ISIS videos and tossed the bomb at right-wing agitators because they felt the agitators insulted their religion, the sources said. …
I was in the middle of saying “as a born and raised New Yorker, we welcome everyone into this city” when he threw that over my head. pic.twitter.com/i5iD3MVf7h
— Walter Masterson (@waltermasterson) March 8, 2026
“The dangerous substance can be cobbled together using household ingredients readily available at home improvement stores and pharmacies, making it cheap to produce.
“It’s designed to maim and kill,” one source told the Post. “This is just luck no one is dead.”
Outback founder Clay Travis noted: “So would be Muslim terrorists threw an IED at NYC protesters who were there to protest the danger of having too many potential immigrant terrorists in the country. This is wild. It’s as if they showed up to intentionally validate the protester’s protest.”
So would be Muslim terrorists threw an IED at NYC protesters who were there to protest the danger of having too many potential immigrant terrorists in the country. This is wild. It’s as if they showed up to intentionally validate the protester’s protest. https://t.co/VhT72cqsvv
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 8, 2026
Mayor Mandani says he was aware of the anti-Muslim protest organized by far-right provocateur Jake Lang taking place for a week, but he was not home at the time of the attack.
“My wife and I were at the New York City Sign Museum in Brooklyn,” Mamdani said.
Tisch is honoring the officers who “ran toward a lit IED without hesitation and without regard for their own safety.”
I always speak about the police running towards danger when everyone else runs away — that happened today.
Officers ran towards a man carrying an ignited suspicious device. They put the safety of others above their own.
Today, as always, I thank them for their noble service. pic.twitter.com/r2NzlzKfnP
— Jessica S. Tisch (@NYPDPC) March 8, 2026
“Luck is never a strategy. Devices like these have the potential to cause devastating harm.”
She said both suspects are in custody, with an indictment to be unsealed later Monday.
Explosive samples have been sent to the FBI lab for analysis.
On Sunday, FBI agents searched the homes of Kayumi in Newtown, Pennsylvania, and Balat in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, reported WPVI-TV in Philadelphia.
Deport their entire families https://t.co/TIGmFLhYWi
— Kevin Sorbo (@ksorbs) March 9, 2026
Actor and political activist Kevin Sorbo said: “Deport their entire families.”
On Sunday, Mamdani chose to focus not on the accused Islamic perpetrators of the explosive devices, but on the organizer of the original anti-Muslim protest.
“White supremacist Jake Lang organized a protest outside Gracie Mansion rooted in bigotry and racism. Such 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,” said Mamdani, who himself is Muslim.
“What followed was even more disturbing. Violence at a protest is never acceptable. The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are.”
That prompted a strong response from U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who’s said: “To give full context to what happened [Saturday], the two individuals arrested for throwing a homemade explosive device filled with nails, have admitted to authorities they were inspired by ISIS. In other words, they were radical Islamic terrorists.
To give full context to what happened yesterday, the two individuals arrested for throwing a homemade explosive device filled with nails, have admitted to authorities they were inspired by ISIS.
In other words, they were radical Islamic terrorists.
As Mayor of the largest city… https://t.co/reb65IHWdC pic.twitter.com/zn0mH0fHBz
— Mike Lawler (@lawler4ny) March 8, 2026
“As Mayor of the largest city in the world, and the greatest target of terrorism, you need to confront this head on. Don’t just call out one group of protestors and not the other group – and certainly don’t ignore the background of those responsible.
“White Supremacy and Radical Islam are equally bad. That shouldn’t be hard to say. By the way, you should be calling on Schumer and Jeffries to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security.”
No one should be surprised.
After years of hateful rhetoric and incitement, attempts to justify attacks on Jews in Israel, praise for violence like the killing of a CEO, and chants about “globalizing the intifada” and “Death to America,” words have now escalated into violence on… pic.twitter.com/vPHSRMQ0eI
— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) March 8, 2026
Follow Joe on X @JoeKovacsNews