The initial anti-Islam demonstration outside Gracie Mansion on Friday was organized by far-right activist and pardoned Jan. 6 rioter Jake Lang, targeting Mayor Mamdani. The group, gathering under slogans such as “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City,” clashed with a larger group of counter-protesters who had arrived to oppose them. According to the NYPD, the physical confrontation was instigated when an individual from the anti-Islam protest group deployed pepper spray against the counter-protesters. Following this escalation, 18-year-old Emir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi, who were part of the counter-protest, allegedly retaliated by lighting and throwing improvised explosive devices toward the original demonstrators. The devices failed to detonate, and no injuries were reported, but the teens are facing federal criminal charges, per Gothamist.