New York City
Islamophobic demonstration outside Gracie Mansion leads to 6 arrests
Apparent counterprotesters lobbed what looked like explosive devices toward anti-Muslim provocateurs. They did not detonate, and no one was hurt.
Police arrest a person suspected of throwing what looked like an explosive device near Gracie Mansion Saturday. There were no injuries. Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images
Six people were arrested in connection with violent protests outside Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side Saturday after a far-right group organized a “Crusade Against Islamification,” and a counter-protest assembled, according to New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
In a brief press conference on the Upper East Side on Saturday evening, Tisch said that there were no injuries connected to the incident, during which pepper spray and an ignited device were deployed between the groups.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is the city’s first Muslim mayor, and has faced Islamophobic and racist attacks during the campaign and in his first months as mayor. Conservative radio host Sid Rosenberg described Mamdani as a “jihadist” and “radical Islam cockroach” in a social media post on Monday. Following widespread condemnation, Rosenberg offered a public apology.
Saturday’s anti-Muslim protest was organized by right-wing activist and pardoned Jan. 6 protester Jake Lang, who has organized other provocative demonstrations, including a pro-ICE protest in Minneapolis. Lang brought a cooked pig, a hateful reference to Islam’s rules against eating pork. “Having a white nationalist coming to rabble-rouse and flare anti-Muslim sentiment in New York during the holiest month of the year for Muslims is more than outlandish,” said Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition. “But also, we’re talking about a white supremacist who’s looking for people to respond to them in this way.”
As the two groups clashed, an individual connected to Lang’s protest used pepper spray against counter-protesters, and was arrested. Two individuals connected to the counter-protest – called “Run the Nazis out of New York City: Stand against hate” – were arrested for handling and deploying what appeared to be improvised explosive devices, including one that was thrown at the protest group, and another that was dropped on the ground. Tisch said it wasn’t immediately clear if they were functional IEDs or hoax devices. Three additional individuals were arrested for disorderly conduct.
“As of now, there is no indication that this is related to the ongoing hostilities in Iran, but the investigation is still ongoing, given the heightened threat environment,” Tisch said.
Mamdani and wife Rama Duwaji were not at Gracie Mansion at the time of the protests, according to a source familiar. Mamdani had no publicly scheduled events on Saturday.
“The ‘Crusade Against Islamification’ gathering held outside Gracie Mansion today by Jake Lang, a vile white supremacist, was despicable and Islamophobic. Thankfully, the Mayor and the First Lady are both safe, though the events are a stark reminder of the threats they both face regularly,” City Hall press secretary Joe Calvello said in a statement. “The Mayor has spoken with Police Commissioner Tisch, and the NYPD is actively investigating the protest, counter-protest, and suspicious devices discovered outside Gracie Mansion.”
“New York respects the right to peaceful protest, but we have zero tolerance for hate or violence,” Gov. Kathy Hochul added in a statement on X Saturday evening.