Video appears to show New York City bomb suspect buying fuse at a fireworks store

NEW YORK (AP) — Newly released surveillance video appears to show a man buying a fuse at a fireworks store days before authorities say he and another man brought homemade bombs to a protest outside the New York City mayor’s residence.

Emir Balat, 18, visited a Phantom Fireworks store near his suburban Philadelphia home on March 2, and he purchased 20 feet (6 meters) of consumer fireworks safety fuse, the company said Wednesday.

Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, were arrested on Saturday after police said they attempted to set off a pair of improvised explosives at a small anti-Muslim rally near Gracie Mansion in Manhattan.

After their arrests, the men said they were inspired by the Islamic State group, according to law enforcement officials and a criminal complaint charging them with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction.

They were not required to enter a plea at an initial court appearance Monday and were ordered held without bail.

Security camera footage released by Phantom Fireworks shows a man the company identified as Balat shopping at its store in Penndel, Pennsylvania. Balat is from neighboring Langhorne, and Kayumi is from Newtown, about 4 miles (6.5 kilometers) north.

The man in the video is seen holding a coiled item and placing it on a counter as he speaks with an employee, hands her what appears to be an identification card and writes on a form. Later, he is seen at a checkout counter paying cash for the item. Phantom Fireworks said the fuse cost $6.89.

A message seeking comment was left for Balat’s lawyer, Mehdi Essmidi.

The footage and purchase details offer a new window into the potential planning for the attack as investigators probe possible motives and the relationship between Balat and Kayumi.

Prosecutors, police and FBI officials say Balat and Kayumi drove from Pennsylvania to New York City and joined a throng of counterprotesters at the rally, whose organizer, far-right activist Jake Lang, is a critic of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat and the first Muslim to hold the office.

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 he was tackled and arrested, according to a court complaint.

In response to police questioning, Balat said he hoped to accomplish something “even bigger” than the Boston Marathon bombing, which killed three people, the complaint said.

The FBI said it has conducted multiple searches in connection with the investigation.

Overnight Monday, FBI bomb technicians conducted controlled detonations of explosive residue found during a search of storage facility in Langhorne.

Balat, a senior at Neshaminy High School in Langhorne, enrolled in a virtual program in September and had not attended in-person classes since, a school spokesperson said. Kayumi graduated in 2024 from Council Rock High School North, according to a school spokesperson.

After Balat’s court appearance, Essmidi said his client had “complicated stuff going on” in his personal life, without elaborating.

Essmidi said he did not believe the two young men had known each other for long.

“They are not known to each other. They do not live together. They did not have friendly, family or school ties,” Essmidi said. “There is no reason to believe they knew each other prior to this incident, and I don’t know how well they knew each other at the time of this incident.”

Kayumi’s lawyer did not speak to reporters following a court hearing Monday and declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press.

His mother filed a missing-person report with police Saturday, the day of the protest, saying her son had not been seen since that morning, according to the complaint.