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Homemade explosive hurled near NYC mayor's mansion during protests could have caused 'serious injury or death,' police say

Tensions between opposing protest groups outside the New York City mayor's residence boiled over Saturday, when a protester hurled an improvised explosive onto the crosswalk, leaving protesters and police officers scrambling.

A man flees after throwing a homemade explosive device towards police during a protest in front of Gracie Mansion, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani's official residence. - Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images

The device was capable of causing "serious injury or death," the NYPD said Sunday, and multiple law enforcement sources told CNN two men arrested in connection with the device admitted to being inspired by ISIS. FBI New York's Joint Terrorism Task Force is working with the NYPD on the investigation, thebureausaid.

The incident unfolded during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan outside the home of New York City's first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, and his wife Rama Duwaji.

An anti-Islam protest organized by right-wing influencer and pardoned January 6 rioterJake Langdrew roughly 20 participants, while a counter-protest called "Drive the Nazis Out of New York" peaked at about 125 people, Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said.

"The NYPD Bomb Squad has conducted a preliminary analysis of a device that was ignited and deployed at a protest yesterday and has determined that it is not a hoax device or a smoke bomb," Tisch said in apost on X. "It is, in fact, an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death."

Analysis of a second device recovered at the scene is ongoing. No injuries were reported.

Both devices were constructed with what is suspected to be homemade explosive material and fragmentation in the form of nuts, bolts and screws, the sources said.

Authorities are investigating whether the explosive was a homemade mixture known as TATP, which can be highly volatile and unstable, the sources said. Further lab tests will be conducted to determine the exact make up of the suspected explosive when they can establish a safe procedure to test it.

The two groups were separated into designated protest areas by NYPD officers, but tensions escalated shortly before noon. At around 12:15 p.m., a protester associated with Lang's group used pepper spray against counterprotesters, Tisch said.

About 20 minutes later, an 18-year-old counterprotester "lit and threw an ignited device toward the protest area," which landed on a crosswalk, Tisch said.

"Witnesses reported seeing flames and smoke as it traveled through the air before it struck a barrier and extinguished itself a few feet from police officers," she added.

Video captured by the Citizen app shows the moment the device was thrown, with protesters and police officers scrambling to get away from where it landed. From another angle, a man is seen leaping over someone speaking on a megaphone and throwing the ignited device.

The man then ran southbound to retrieve a second device from a 19-year-old man before lighting it and starting to run, Tisch said. He dropped the second device on a street, and officers secured the area, taking both men into custody.

The video shows smoke in the air and more people running from the second device as police detain a man on the ground.

The NYPD bomb squad examined both devices, preliminarily determining they were slightly smaller than a football and appeared to be a jar wrapped in black tape containing bolts, screws and a hobby fuse, Tisch said.

View of a device described by officials as "suspicious" that was thrown by man towards police during a protest outside Gracie Mansion in New York City. - Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images

In total, six people were arrested: the two responsible for the devices, the person who deployed pepper spray and three others for disorderly conduct and obstructing traffic, Tisch said.

Mamdani on Sunday called the Lang-organized protest "rooted in bigotry and racism," saying, "Such hate has no place in New York City." But he said 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," the mayor said.

The mayor and his wife are safe, and Mamdani has been in contact with Tisch, said press secretary Joe Calvello.

The mayor thanked the men and women of the NYPD for their bravery and quick action.

Officers established a safety perimeter and began canine sweeps and manual canvassing of surrounding blocks to search for additional hazards, which is still ongoing, Tisch said.

She said there is no indication the incident is related to the ongoing conflict in Iran but stressed the investigation remains active "given the heightened threat environment."

Tisch commended officers for running toward the man carrying the ignited device, "putting the safety of others in their sworn duty to protect and serve above their own personal safety."

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she had been briefed and was "grateful there are no reported injuries."

"New York respects the right to peaceful protest, but we have zero tolerance for hate or violence," Hochul said.

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Homemade explosive hurled near NYC mayor’s mansion during protests could have caused ‘serious injury or death,’ police say

Tensions between opposing protest groups outside the New York City mayor's residence boiled over Saturday, when a pro...

Foreign minister rejects ceasefire calls, saying Iran is fighting for 'the sake of our people'

Iran'sForeign Minister Abbas Araghchihas rejected calls for aceasefire in the Middle East, telling NBC News' "Meet the Press" that his country needs "to continue fighting for the sake of our people."

The U.S. and Israel "are killing our people, they are killing girl students, you know, they are attacking hospitals," he told moderator Kristen Welker.

He said Israel and the U.S. had already shattered the ceasefire reached to end last year's 12-day war, adding, "And now you want to ask for a ceasefire again? This doesn't work like this."

"There needs to bea permanent end to the war," Araghchi said. "Unless we get to that, I think we need to continue fighting for the sake of our people and our security."

OnFriday, four sources told NBC Newsthat Russia was providing intelligence to Iran on the location of U.S. forces in the Middle East, including intelligence that could help Iran locate American warships.

Pressed on whether Iran is receiving Russian support, Araghchi said that "cooperation between Iran and Russia is not something new, it's not a secret." He did not say whether Russian intelligence was helping Iran locate U.S. military assets.

"They are helping us in many different directions. I don't have any detailed information," he said.

In a separate interview on "Meet the Press," United Nations Ambassador Mike Waltz discussed reports of Russia sharing intelligence with Iran, saying he had "no doubt President Trump will deal with it accordingly."

Asked whether he considered Russia to have entered the conflict, Waltz said "we know that both Russia and Iran have had this symbiotic relationship."

"If they are providing anything, it certainly hasn't been very effective, because the U.S. military is decimating Iran's air force, air defenses, navy, ground forces, command and control," Waltz said. "So whatever they're providing, if they're providing anything, hasn't shown to help them very much."

On Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would no longer attack neighboring Gulf nations unless they facilitate U.S. or Israeli attacks, and he apologized to the region after Iranian strikes killed people in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

But Araghchi said Iran had not been "attacking our neighbors" intentionally.

"We are attacking American bases, American installations, American assets, which are unfortunately located in the soils of our neighbors," he said.

Araghchi added that Pezeshkian had apologized to the people of the region for "the inconveniences they have faced because of this aggression by the United States and retaliation by us."

The Iranian minister also said that if the U.S. deploysground troops to Iran, "we have very brave soldiers who are waiting for any enemy who enters into our soil, to fight with them and to kill them and destroy them."

President Donald Trump said last week that one of the reasons for launching the war was that Iran would soon have missiles capable of reaching the U.S., but Araghchi said this was untrue.

"This is in fact misinformation," he said. "You know, we have capability to produce missiles, but we have intentionally limited ourselves to below 2,000 kilometers of range because we don't want to be felt as a threat by anybody else in the world."

Iran's Assembly of Experts has chosen a new supreme leader after strikes killedAyatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Iranian state media, but Araghchi did not offer any insight on who was set to replace him.

"Nobody knows," he said. "There are lots of rumors around. But you know, we have to wait for the Assembly of Experts to convene."

Pressed on comments by Trump that he wanted to be involved in choosing Iran's next leader, Araghchi said Iran will "allow nobody to interfere in our domestic affairs."

"This is up to the Iranian people to elect their new leader," he said. "They have already elected the Assembly of Experts, and the Assembly of Experts will do the job."

Trump said ina postFriday on Truth Social that the U.S. would not make a deal with Iran "except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER."

Asked on "Meet the Press" what the president meant, Waltz said he would "leave that to the president as commander in chief to determine what that ultimately looks like."

"We're ahead of schedule, and what he ultimately wants is pretty much common sense," Waltz said. "As he said, we have to have an Iranian government that no longer threatens the American people, threatens our allies and threatens the world, and holds the world's energy supplies hostage through both its missiles and its navy."

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Foreign minister rejects ceasefire calls, saying Iran is fighting for 'the sake of our people'

Iran'sForeign Minister Abbas Araghchihas rejected calls for aceasefire in the Middle East, telling NBC News' ...

Cuba 'at the end of the line,' Trump warns at Shield of the Americas Summit

As PresidentDonald Trumplaunched a new coalition against drug cartels alongside Latin American leaders in Florida on March 7, he also warned of potential action in Cuba, the latest mention in a growing list of comments the president has made toward the future of the island nation 90 miles from the U.S.

Trump's comments, which mentioned "great change" coming to Cuba, came as he spoke at theShield of the Americas Summiton March 7. The daylong event aimed at discussing strategies to bolster U.S. leadership and coalition in the Western Hemisphere also hosted leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, among others.

The summit also saw the announcement of the Shield of the Americas, a coalition of like-minded Latin American nations that the Trump administration says it created to combat narcotrafficking and solidify U.S. primacy in the Western Hemisphere. Trump officially launched the coalition at the all-day, invite-only summit at his Doral golf club near Miami.

Trump linked Cuba torecent U.S. action in Venezuelain the wake of the January raid by U.S. special forces that captured the country's then-leader Nicolás Maduro, hinting that the island could soon see change. Attention has been on the island for much of 2026, with Trumpsaying in late Februarythere could be a "friendly takeover of Cuba" as fuel shortages squeeze Havana's authoritarian government.

"As we achieve a historic transformation in Venezuela, we're also looking forward to the great change that will soon be coming to Cuba,"Trump said on March 7. "Cuba's at the end of the line, they're very much at the end of the line. They have no money. They have no oil. They have a bad philosophy; they have a bad regime that's been bad for a long time."

President Donald Trump signs the "Commitment to countering cartel criminal activity" document during the "Shield of the Americas" Summit in Miami, Florida, March 7, 2026. Trump hosted the Summit to discuss strategies to bolster U.S. leadership and coalition in the Western Hemisphere alongside the Latin American leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago.