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NYC terror plot suspect seen purchasing fuse from Bucks County fireworks shop
Emir Balat, an 18-year-old accused of hurling an improvised explosive device during a counter protest in NYC, is seen purchasing a 20-foot safety fuse coil from a Bucks County fireworks shop.
PHILADELPHIA - Newly released surveillance footage captures Emir Balat, an 18-year-old Bucks County teen accused of hurling an improvised explosive device during a counterprotest in NYC last weekend, purchasing a 20-foot safety fuse from a local fireworks shop.
What we know:
Security footage shows Balat purchasing a 20-foot coil of safety fuse from Phantom Fireworks in Penndel days before the alleged NYC terror plot last weekend in New York City.
Investigators believe Balat and his co-conspirator, 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi, assembled jar-sized improvised explosive devices using TPAP. The object also contained a fuse, plus an exterior layer of duct-taped nuts and bolts, the complaint said.
FBI conducts controlled explosions during search of Bucks County storage facility linked to NYC terror plot
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted several controlled detonations of explosives found in a Bucks County storage unit believed to be linked to an ongoing ISIS-inspired terror investigation in New York City.
The homemade devices, which did not explode, were hurled Saturday during raucous counterprotests against an anti-Islam demonstration led by Jake Lang, a far-right activist and critic of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat and the first Muslim to hold the office.
Federal agents on Monday night raided a storage facility in Langhorne in connection to the investigation. Authorities say they conducted several controlled detonations after searching a storage unit.
The backstory:
Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, told authorities after their arrests that they were inspired by the Islamic State group, law enforcement officials said, but much remains undisclosed about their motives and how much they planned.
Prosecutors, police and FBI officials say Balat and Kayumi, who lived in Philadelphia’s suburbs, drove to New York City on Saturday and joined a throng of counter protesters at a small, anti-Muslim rally organized by the far-right Christian nationalist Jake Lang.
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What we know about Bucks County teens charged in NYC bomb plot
Two Bucks County teens are in custody after allegedly attempting to detonate ISIS-inspired explosive devices during a protest near the New York City mayor's residence.
Journalists photographed Balat hurling a device, smoking with a lit fuse, that was later found to contain the explosive TATP. The object, which also contained nuts and bolts, extinguished itself without harming anyone.
Balat then dropped a second object near some police officers and tried to run, but was tackled and arrested, according to a court complaint.
Balat and Kayumi were being held without bail after a court appearance Monday on charges that include attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction.