NEW YORK — Suspect Emir Balat, 18, arrested for throwing an explosive device near Gracie Mansion in New York, flashed a gesture believed to be a symbol of the ISIS terrorist organization while leaving a police station on March 9, 2026. Images from the scene show Balat raising his right index finger—a gesture commonly used in ISIS propaganda—as he was escorted from the 26th Precinct. A police officer immediately lowered the suspect's hand as the escort continued leading Balat to a vehicle. Balat was arrested along with Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, after an improvised explosive device was thrown toward a group of protesters near the residence of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the Upper East Side. According to investigators, the device used TATP explosive, commonly known as the “Mother of Satan,” a highly sensitive explosive that has appeared in many terrorist attacks worldwide. The explosive device did not detonate as police forces quickly secured the scene. The suspects were arrested on March 8, 2026, after the NYPD and federal counter-terrorism forces opened an investigation. Balat was led away in handcuffs and escorted by NYPD officers and FBI agents, a protocol used for particularly dangerous suspects. According to initial reports, Balat grew up in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, in a family that naturalized as U.S. citizens in 2017. The suspect's family home in the Pennsylvania suburbs is estimated to be worth approximately $653,000. The other suspect, Kayumi, lives in a six-bedroom house valued at about $2.25 million near the New Jersey state border. Investigators continue to examine the motive of the incident and the suspects' links to terrorist ideology.

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