{"id":2577786,"date":"2026-03-09T14:21:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T18:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/smoking-jars-of-metal-media-obfuscate-alleged-nyc-bomb-attempt-and-its-islamist-motives\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T14:24:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T18:24:53","slug":"smoking-jars-of-metal-media-obfuscate-alleged-nyc-bomb-attempt-and-its-islamist-motives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/smoking-jars-of-metal-media-obfuscate-alleged-nyc-bomb-attempt-and-its-islamist-motives\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Smoking Jars Of Metal&#8217;: Media Obfuscate Alleged NY Bomb Attack"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsmoking-jars-of-metal-media-obfuscate-alleged-nyc-bomb-attempt-and-its-islamist-motives%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2577786&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A Federalist article analyzes a New York City bombing attempt at a Gracie Mansion protest and argues that mainstream media framed the event in Islamophobic terms rather than highlighting the violent act and potential jihadist motives. The piece recounts that 18-year-old Emir Balat allegedly threw a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heavily-armed-man-found-dead-at-amusement-park-near-message-written-on-wall\/\" title=\"Armed Man Found Dead at Park with Cryptic Message\">homemade explosive device<\/a> into a crowd, with 19-year-old Ibrahim Nikk Kayumi allegedly assisting by supplying one bomb; authorities describe the device as a jug with explosives, bolts, screws, and a hobby fuse. The incident is being treated as a possible act of terrorism, and one of the suspects reportedly referenced ISIS to law enforcement, with video appearing to show Balat shouting \u201cAllahu Akbar\u201d before the attack. Both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/police-arrest-2-suspects-involved-in-fatal-hit-and-run-of-ark-officer\/\" title=\"Police arrest 2 suspects involved in fatal hit...and...run of Ark. officer\">suspects face multiple charges<\/a>, including use of a weapon of mass destruction, transportation of explosive materials, and support of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-sanctions-venezuelan-model-over-alleged-support-for-tren-de-aragua\/\" title=\"Trump sanctions Venezuelan model over alleged support for Tren de Aragua\">designated foreign terrorist institution<\/a>. The author contends that headlines from outlets such as City and State NY, Gothamist, AP, The New York Times, NBC New York, ABC News, and CBS News framed the protests as anti-Islam or Islamophobic, rather than reporting on the violence and possible terrorism. The article argues that this framing obscures the true story and reflects biased media coverage. Brianna Lyman, the author, is presented with her background and affiliations as context for the critique.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BPolatseck\/status\/2030784088437580229?s=20\">Benny Polatseck\/X <\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/09\/smoking-jars-of-metal-media-obfuscate-alleged-nyc-bomb-attempt-and-its-islamist-motives\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=%E2%80%98Smoking%20Jars%20Of%20Metal%E2%80%99:%20Media%20Obfuscate%20Alleged%20NYC%20Bomb%20Attempt%20And%20Its%20Islamist%20Motives&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/09\/smoking-jars-of-metal-media-obfuscate-alleged-nyc-bomb-attempt-and-its-islamist-motives\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=%E2%80%98Smoking%20Jars%20Of%20Metal%E2%80%99:%20Media%20Obfuscate%20Alleged%20NYC%20Bomb%20Attempt%20And%20Its%20Islamist%20Motives&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/09\/smoking-jars-of-metal-media-obfuscate-alleged-nyc-bomb-attempt-and-its-islamist-motives\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/09\/smoking-jars-of-metal-media-obfuscate-alleged-nyc-bomb-attempt-and-its-islamist-motives\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=%E2%80%98Smoking%20Jars%20Of%20Metal%E2%80%99:%20Media%20Obfuscate%20Alleged%20NYC%20Bomb%20Attempt%20And%20Its%20Islamist%20Motives&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/09\/smoking-jars-of-metal-media-obfuscate-alleged-nyc-bomb-attempt-and-its-islamist-motives\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>A Muslim man allegedly threw homemade bombs into a crowd of protesters on Saturday in New York City. But you wouldn&rsquo;t necessarily glean that from the dishonest coverage provided by the propaganda press.<\/p>\n<p>Protesters gathered near Gracie Mansion &mdash; the official residence of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani &mdash; as part of Jake Lang&rsquo;s &ldquo;Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City&rdquo; demonstration. A counterprotest formed nearby, and at some point a scuffle reportedly broke out between the two groups. According to authorities, however, 18-year-old Emir Balat threw a homemade explosive device into the crowd of protesters and tried to flee. Nineteen-year-old Ibrahim Nikk Kayumi is alleged to have provided Balat with one of the bombs, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/07\/nyregion\/gracie-mansion-protests.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according<\/a> to The New York Times.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-630198112\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>One of the bombs was, as described by the Times, &ldquo;made from a jug that contained a sports drink bottle filled with explosive material, as well as bolts and screws and a &lsquo;hobby fuse,&rsquo; according to a senior law enforcement official.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>NBC News&rsquo; Tom Winter <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Tom_Winter\/status\/2030722941336305757?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> that authorities are treating the event as a &ldquo;possible act of <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CBSNews\/status\/2030746137993613742?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">terrorism<\/a>&rdquo; after one of the alleged perpetrators &ldquo;directly referenced ISIS in statements to law enforcement.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Video <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ViralNewsNYC\/status\/2030389341495930907?s=20\">footage<\/a> also appears to show Balat shouting &ldquo;Allahu Akbar&rdquo; before throwing the bomb.<\/p>\n<p>Both suspects have since been charged with five counts, including use of a weapon of mass destruction and transportation of explosive materials, as well as attempted support of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/palestinian-terrorists-issue-death-threat-on-american-reformer-as-biden-admin-seeks-closer-ties\/\" title=\"Palestinian Terrorists Issue Death Threat on American Reformer as Biden Admin Seeks Closer Ties\">designated foreign terrorist organization<\/a>, CBS News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/newyork\/news\/zohran-mamdani-gracie-mansion-ied-nypd-explosive-jessica-tisch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The reported facts are apparently pretty straightforward: A Muslim man allegedly threw a homemade explosive device packed with projectiles into a crowd of people, and investigators are examining potential jihad motives.<\/p>\n<p>But if you only glanced at headlines or <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >scrolled past social media posts<\/a> from major news outlets, you likely would come away with a very different understanding of what happened. <\/p>\n<p>Take, for example, the coverage from City and State New York, which originally <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CityAndStateNY\/status\/2030448458310537721\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">headlined<\/a> its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cityandstateny.com\/politics\/2026\/03\/islamophobic-demonstration-outside-gracie-mansion-leads-6-arrests\/411968\/?oref=csny-homepage-river\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">piece<\/a>: &ldquo;Islamophobic demonstration outside Gracie Mansion leads to 6 arrests.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The article&rsquo;s original opening paragraph reported that six people were arrested &ldquo;in connection with the violent protests outside Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side Saturday after a far-right group organized a &lsquo;Crusade Against Islamification&rsquo;&rdquo; and also mentioned a counterprotest. The outlet has since updated the headline and article to indicate: &ldquo;Gracie Mansion protest attempted bombing investigated &lsquo;as an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Gothamist <a href=\"https:\/\/gothamist.com\/news\/2-people-throw-smoking-items-as-crowd-protests-anti-muslim-influencer-near-gracie-mansion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">headlined<\/a> its piece: &ldquo;6 people arrested after smoke device thrown at anti-Muslim protest near Gracie Mansion.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Associated Press took a similarly vague angle, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/antiislam-protest-gracie-mansion-new-york-8ed487ed2d2f92a32fb0fabbf058dd2a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">headlining<\/a> a piece about the alleged attack &ldquo;Police investigating after device thrown at anti-Islam protest in New York City.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The New York Times originally chose the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/HansMahncke\/status\/2031006012233121829?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">headline<\/a> &ldquo;Smoking Jars of Metal and Fuses Thrown at Protest Near Mayor&rsquo;s House&rdquo; before changing it to &ldquo;Homemade Bomb Thrown at Protest Near N.Y.C. Mayor&rsquo;s House, Police Say.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>NBC New York dishonestly <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NBCNewYork\/status\/2030442054396903737?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">posted<\/a> on X: &ldquo;Multiple arrests made after &lsquo;suspicious devices&rsquo; found outside Gracie Mansion, home of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, during anti-Islam rally and counterprotest.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>ABC News <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ABC\/status\/2030424390043640250?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">posted<\/a>: &ldquo;Police arrested several people after a smoke-generating &lsquo;suspicious device&rsquo; was thrown during a protest at Gracie Mansion,&rdquo; while CBS News <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CBSNews\/status\/2030539010800521528\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stated<\/a>: &ldquo;Suspicious devices ignited during protests near Manhattan&rsquo;s Gracie Mansion, Mamdani&rsquo;s official residence.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Judging by these headlines, the defining point of the Saturday protest was that it was &ldquo;Islamophobic&rdquo; or &ldquo;anti-Islam.&rdquo; Such dishonest framing obscures the dangerous reality: A Muslim man with reported terrorist-organization sympathies allegedly tried to blow up a crowd of protesters. But for the propaganda press, acknowledging that fact would destroy their narrative about who the villains and victims are <em>supposed<\/em> to be.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Brianna Lyman<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briannalyman2\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@briannalyman2<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/briannalyman\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/islam\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Islam<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/media\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Media<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/media-lies\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Media lies<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/new-york-city\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">New York City<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/propaganda-press\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">propaganda press<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/terrorism\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">terrorism<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/zohran-mamdani\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Zohran Mamdani<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Muslim man hurled bombs at the crowd; media bias<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2577787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-09-at-12.28.54-PM-scaled-e1773073847873-1024x577.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[75421,70113,56439,50738,73126],"class_list":["post-2577786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-bomb-attack","tag-investigative-journalism-2","tag-media-bias-2","tag-misinformation-2","tag-new-york-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-09-at-12.28.54-PM-scaled-e1773073847873-1024x577.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2577786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2577786"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2577786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2577790,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2577786\/revisions\/2577790"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2577787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2577786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2577786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2577786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}