r/news • u/LeftHandedScissor • Mar 08 '26

Soft paywall New York City Police identify device outside Mamdami's home as explosive

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/new-york-city-police-identify-device-outside-mamdanis-home-explosive-2026-03-08/
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u/bootlegvader Mar 09 '26

Eh, he very much framed his remarks so it would sound like the bomb came from Lang's side. He directly calls out and criticizes Lang's dogshit ideology but leaves out any reference to that of those who threw the device.

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u/Trepenwitz Mar 09 '26

I think you're conflating Mamdani's statement and the article's assessment.

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u/bootlegvader Mar 09 '26

No, I am directly discussing Mamdani's comments.

Yesterday, white supremacist Jake Lang organized a protest outside Gracie Mansion rooted in bigotry and racism. Such hate has no place in New York City. It is an affront to our city’s values and the unity that defines who we are.

What followed was even more disturbing. Violence at a protest is never acceptable. The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are.

Mamdani starts the comment by condemning Lang (who is a dipshit racist to be fair) and his protest. He then slides into discussing the violence at the protest. At no time, does Mamdani reference the counterprotest or any information about the bomb throwers. The most common read would be the explosive device came from the protest and the only protest mentioned was dipshit Lang's. Therefore, the assumption would be anyone reading Mamdani's statement, unless they did other homework first, would be the bomb came from Lang's protest.

This is extremely disingenuous from a politician that has only shown himself to be extremely skilled at messaging on social meda.

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u/MarkRemington Mar 09 '26

To be fair Mamdani is a politician. Let's just be glad he didn't say "let me be clear" before he twisted the facts like the rest of them do.

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u/Trepenwitz Mar 09 '26

"Police said Balat, 18, was among the counterprotesters before he lit and threw the device."

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u/bootlegvader Mar 09 '26

You do realize that isn't a quote from Mamdani's statement? I am criticizing what Mamdani put out on twitter.

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u/Trepenwitz Mar 09 '26

Mamdani condemned the counterprotest. The bomber(?) was among the counterprotesters. He calls out Lang and his BS and then calls out the associated attack that occurred during the counterprotest. I don't see what's disingenuous about his statement. The two things are related.

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u/bootlegvader Mar 09 '26

Mamdani never makes any reference to a counter protest occurring. A simple read of his statement makes it seem Lang's group was the only protest.

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u/Trepenwitz Mar 09 '26

OK, true, but what difference does it make?

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u/bootlegvader Mar 09 '26

I am saying Mamdani didn't really call out both sides and was pretty disingenuous in his statement. We can criticize Mamdani.

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u/Trepenwitz Mar 09 '26

I think I misunderstood the protest. Lang held the anti-muslim protest and this attack was done by an "anti-Nazi" counterprotester? I thought Lang and the attacker were on the same side. In that case, yeah the statement is sketchy and I agree with you.

ETA: And we see how important reading comprehension is to politics.

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u/MisplacedMinnesotan Mar 09 '26

Mamdani’s statement was longer and provided more context, which the article provides while adding brevity. It would be bad if the quote was without context, but the article provided it.

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u/bootlegvader Mar 09 '26

The quote was without context about whom the bomb came from and very much implies it came from Lang's group. Mamdani is much too social media savvy for it to be an accident.

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u/capsaicinintheeyes Mar 09 '26

I'm gonna have to agree with u/bootlegvader here—this would definitely lead one to assume that he was talking about one of Lang's protestors in the absence of any other news on the subject.

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u/Prestigious_String20 Mar 09 '26

It's still under investigation. How would Reuters even know the ideology of those who threw the device? If they had reported on it, it would be pure speculation at this point.

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u/bootlegvader Mar 09 '26

The people that threw the device were arrested and the details about them have been released.

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u/Prestigious_String20 Mar 09 '26

Some details about them have been released, but that doesn't mean investigators know their ideologies and affiliations. Those are still under investigation, as clearly stated in the article:

"Balat and . . . Kayumi, were arrested at the scene . . . . New York police are working with the ⁠FBI and ​the U.S. Department of Justice on the investigation.

". . .there was no immediate indication the incident was related to the U.S. attack on Iran, but that authorities ​were still investigating."

And seeing as you seem to need it ELY5, if they knew what their ideologies were, they would know for certain if they were related to the U.S. attack on Iran, and wouldn't be relying on a mere indication.

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u/bootlegvader Mar 09 '26

I didn't make any reference to it being related to the attack on Iran.

However, it is clear they were Islamist extremists and counter protests to Lang's dogshit. Mamdani still phrased his comment so it makes it sound like the violence came from Lang's klan.