Panic ripped through the streets close to socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s official residence when an anti-Islam rally was attacked with a ‘smoke bomb.’
Videos posted to social media showed people running and chaos at the demonstration organized by January 6 rioter Jake Lang.
The NYPD told the Daily Mail that it was called to ‘two suspicious devices’ in the vicinity of the planned anti-Muslim protest outside Gracie Mansion on East End Avenue and 88th Street in the Upper East Side at 11.40am Saturday.
‘It looks like a possible smoke bomb,’ police told The New York Post at the scene, adding that there was no explosion.
Police told the Daily Mail that two persons of interest were taken into custody and the investigation remains ongoing. The Post reported that four individuals were in custody, according to their sources.
Dozens of demonstrators rallying to stop public Muslim prayer, along with counter-protesters, were thrown into a chaos when smoke began billowing from a device launched into the crowd, The Post reported.
Counter-protesters turned out in droves after the online group General Strike NYC called on supporters to attend with their own rally, ‘Run the Nazis Out of NYC.’
Photos obtained by the outlet appeared to show an unidentified individual igniting what looked like a homemade grenade.
Panic ripped through the streets in New York City Saturday afternoon when an anti-Islam rally was attacked with a ‘smoke bomb’ (pictured: individual carrying homemade smoke device on Saturday)
NYPD told the Daily Mail that a ‘suspicious device’ went off outside Gracie Mansion, with one unidentified individual being detained (pictured: Jake Lang’s rally to stop public Muslim prayer)
Police told The New York Post: ‘It looks like a possible smoke bomb’ (pictured)
Photos show an unidentified individual igniting what looked like a homemade grenade
The photos then captured the same individual hurling the lit device into a street packed with people, after which a cloud of dark smoke filled the air.
Other images from The Post allegedly showed a separate individual being tackled to the ground and swarmed by authorities at the scene.
Officials confirmed to the Daily Mail that the incident caused no injuries or property damage and is currently under investigation.
The rally outside Manhattan Mayor Mamdani’s home was organized by right-wing agitator Jake Lang, one of the more than 1,500 Capitol riot defendants pardoned by President Trump last year.
His actions on January 6 were captured on cellphone, body camera, and CCTV footage, and he later boasted about them on social media, describing the mob as an ‘organized unit of patriots trying to take on tyrants.’
Lang was one of only a handful of rioters, however, who was held in pretrial detention.
The decision came after a Trump-appointed judge cited the ‘very strong’ evidence against him and his ‘overt expressions of willingness to use violence in the future.’
He was never convicted, and his trial never happened before Trump granted him a pardon upon his return to the White House.
Authorities initially told the Daily Mail that one man was detained (pictured). The New York Post reported that four individuals are now in custody
Videos and photos of the aftermath captured people running and chaos erupting
Dozens of demonstrators rallying to stop public Muslim prayer (pictured), along with counter-protesters, fled the scene following the sudden alleged ‘smoke bomb’
Lang (pictured at a Minneapolis rally, January 17) was one of the more than 1,500 Capitol riot defendants pardoned by President Trump last year
At this year’s fifth anniversary of the Capitol riot, Lang was seen on camera telling Metropolitan Police Cmdr. Jason Bagshaw he should be ‘put down like a dead dog’ and ‘hung’ in front of the Capitol, according to NBC News.
Prosecutors said Lang approached Bagshaw, pointed at him and said, ‘public execution is the only solution for animals like you.’
He also allegedly told Bagshaw that he should be dragged ‘by his ankles’ and thrown ‘in the Potomac,’ the outlet reported.
Lang is currently facing a misdemeanor charge in DC Superior Court, with prosecutors alleging that his statements toward Bagshaw amounted to threats.
The right-wing influencer was arraigned earlier this month, with a status hearing scheduled for March 24 and a stay-away order in place.
In January, shortly after the death of Renée Nicole Good, hundreds of protesters in Minneapolis rallied against ICE and successfully chased off a march led by Lang.
He labeled it an ‘anti‑fraud’ rally, where about a dozen people showed up for his anti‑Islam, anti‑Somali, pro‑ICE demonstration.
Counterprotesters in the hundreds swarmed the site, shouting over his speech and forcing his supporters to flee to a nearby hotel within an hour. A few scuffles broke out, though Reuters reported no serious violence.
