00:02New details this morning about a frightening scene outside the New York City mayor's residence.
00:07Police now say this device thrown during protests near Gracie Mansion was not a smoke bomb or hoax,
00:14but an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death.
00:19The incident happened Saturday during dueling demonstrations outside the home of New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani,
00:25the city's first Muslim mayor. A small anti-Muslim protest organized by conservative influencer Jake Lang
00:32gathered outside the mansion, drawing a much larger counter-protest.
00:37Police say tensions escalated quickly. At one point, a protester from the Lang group allegedly sprayed pepper spray into the
00:44counter-protest crowd, triggering fights.
00:46Then moments later, investigators say an 18-year-old counter-protester lit and threw a device toward the protest area.
00:53Police commissioner Jessica Tish initially described the object as a jar wrapped in black tape.
00:59Based on preliminary examination and x-ray imaging, the devices, which were a bit smaller than a football,
01:06appear to be a jar wrapped in black tape, importantly, with nuts, bolts and screws, along with a hobby fuse
01:15that could be lit.
01:17The device struck a barrier and did not explode, but investigators now say it was, in fact, an improvised explosive
01:24device.
01:25Two men from Pennsylvania, Amir Bala and Ibrahim Kayoumi, were arrested at the scene and remain in custody.
01:31Authorities say the investigation is now being handled by the NYPD, the FBI and federal prosecutors through the Joint Terrorism
01:38Task Force.
01:40Investigators are also examining a second device and searching for any additional materials linked to the suspects.
01:46Mayor Mumdani was in the residence at the time, but was not hurt.
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