Two individuals accused of plotting a bombing at a protest outside the home of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani were formally charged on Tuesday, as announced by federal prosecutors. The authorities have described the incident as inspired by ISIS.

The suspects, Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, and Emir Balat, 18, allegedly drove from Pennsylvania to New York City, where they attempted to detonate explosive devices during a protest at Gracie Mansion on March 7. Fortunately, the devices did not explode, and no injuries were reported.

Each suspect faces eight charges, including conspiracy to support a foreign terrorist organization, attempted provision of such support, conspiracy to deploy a weapon of mass destruction, attempted use of such a weapon, carrying explosives during a federal felony, transporting explosive materials, interstate transportation and receipt of explosives, and illegal possession of destructive devices.

“As we allege, Balat and Kayumi executed a terrorist act on New York City streets just weeks ago,” stated Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. “Their aim was to kill innocent people in the name of ISIS. Thanks to the swift action of the NYPD, both suspects were apprehended at the scene.”

A photo depicts Ibrahim Kayumi, on the right, handing an object to Emir Balat, on the left. Both men were taken into custody on March 7 following their alleged bombing attempt and allegiance pledge to the ISIS terror group. (Justice Department Office of Public Affairs)

“Since their attack, our partners at the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force have uncovered evidence revealing the alleged meticulous planning by the defendants in their attack, including a notebook with detailed attack plans and a storage unit containing explosive residue and bomb-making materials,” he added.

When speaking to law enforcement, Balat allegedly said he wanted the planned attack to be “bigger than the Boston Marathon bombing.”

After Kayumi was arrested and waiting to be placed inside an NYPD vehicle, someone from the surrounding crowd yelled at him and asked why he carried out the attack.

“ISIS,” he allegedly responded.

Ibrahim Kayumi was detained by officers outside Gracie Mansion during a protest in New York City on March 7, 2026. (REUTERS/Madison Swart)

The pair also made comments recorded on dashcam in which they discussed soon carrying out the attack as they traveled to New York, according to the indictment.

“What do you think? Are they going to remove the airplanes for us … over New York? Are they going to stop them? If we do the attack and the bombs go off and everything?” Balat asked.

“Just can’t wait for that bomb to go off and his freaking head, his body to get split in half bro, dead,” he added.

Kayumi said, “All I know is I want to start terror, bro” and “I want to petrify these people.”

Emir Balat was tackled by an officer after he allegedly threw a bomb. (FNTV)

A forensic analysis of two unexploded devices — one that Balat tossed into the crowd of protesters and another that Kayumi handed to Balat before Balat dropped it on the ground near NYPD officers — found that both contained explosives, according to the indictment.

Mamdani said after the attempted bombing last month that “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,” the mayor said at the time.

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Another individual connected to America’s space program has been added to the growing list of mysterious deaths and disappearances across the United States.

Michael David Hicks, a noted research scientist from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), passed away on July 30, 2023, at age 59. While the circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear, with no autopsy records available, the cause has not been publicly disclosed.

Hicks had an impressive career at JPL from 1998 to 2022, during which he authored over 80 scientific papers. He played an integral role in numerous teams dedicated to advancing NASA’s understanding of comet and asteroid physical properties.

Among his significant contributions, Hicks was involved in the DART Project, which aimed to test whether humans could redirect potentially hazardous asteroids away from Earth. His work also included the Deep Space 1 Mission, which successfully tested innovative spacecraft technology by flying past a comet in 2001.

Although no official foul play allegations have surfaced, Hicks’ death is the ninth instance involving individuals linked to U.S. space or nuclear secrets who have either died or disappeared under mysterious circumstances in recent years. This pattern has raised concerns among national security experts in the United States.

Moreover, three of these scientists had close ties to Hicks, as all of them worked at the Jet Propulsion Lab or participated in NASA missions there. Monica Reza, JPL’s new Director of the Materials Processing Group, vanished without a trace in June 2025, just months after beginning her tenure at the NASA lab.

Two other men with deep ties to JPL died recently, including a long-time coworker of Hicks, Frank Maiwald, who died in July 2024 at age 61, with even less public acknowledgement of his untimely passing.

Meanwhile, astrophysicist Carl Grillmair, 67, was murdered on the front porch of his home on February 16, 2026. The California Institute of Technology researcher’s work was heavily supported by NASA’s JPL, and Grillmair was personally involved with major space telescope missions led by NASA.

Michael David Hicks (Pictured) was a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory prior to his death in 2023

The Daily Mail has reached out to NASA, Hicks’ alma mater at the University of Arizona, and the scientist’s friends and colleagues for comment on the circumstances surrounding his death. 

Strangely, a series of online obituaries dedicated to Hicks did not mention any health issues before the 59-year-old’s death, which appeared to happen suddenly, roughly one year after leaving NASA JPL.

A similar situation unfolded after Maiwald’s death on July 4, 2024, when the prominent JPL researcher died in Los Angeles from unknown circumstances. 

Despite Maiwald being a JPL Principal – an award given to scientists ‘making outstanding individual contributions’ in their fields – there were no public comments from authorities after the esteemed scientist’s death, and the only public record marking his passing was a single obituary posted online.

NASA and JPL have not commented on the deaths of Maiwald or Hicks, and did not reply to Daily Mail’s inquiries into the nature of the scientists’ work before their deaths.

In June 2023, just 13 months before his death, Maiwald was the lead researcher on a breakthrough that could help future space missions detect clear signs of life on other worlds in the solar system and beyond.

As for the other JPL-connected scientist, Grillmair had contributed to the discovery of water on a distant planet, with colleagues calling his work ‘ingenious’ and adding that the research could point to signs of life less than 160 light-years from Earth.

According to his Caltech profile, he also worked on the NEOWISE and NEO Surveyor, infrared space telescopes that track asteroids. However, experts have also expressed concern that this technology has also been used in advanced missile designs.

Frank Maiwald (Left) and Carl Grillmair (Right) had deep ties to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in California before both men died within the last two years

Monica Reza (Pictured) went missing during a hike in California in June 2025. Reza had worked on the creation of advanced rocket technology before becoming a director at NASA JPL

The string of deaths and missing person cases has drawn the attention of Congress and members of the US intelligence community, who see a disturbing pattern surrounding experts with knowledge of missiles and rocket engines. 

Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker recently told the Daily Mail: ‘You can say these are all suspicious, and these are scientists who have worked in critical technology.’

Swecker claimed that multiple foreign intelligence services, including enemies and allies of the US, have been targeting Americans possessing secrets of the nation’s technology for decades.

’China, Russia, even some of our friends – Pakistan, India, Iran, North Korea – they target this type of technology,’ Swecker revealed.

Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett told the Daily Mail in March: ‘There have been several others throughout the country that have disappeared under suspicious circumstances. I think we ought to be paying attention to it.’

Burchett was referencing at least four other investigations around the US in recent months, including the high-profile disappearance of retired Air Force General William Neil McCasland and the murder of respected physicist Nuno Loureiro.

Pictured: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pasadena, California

McCasland, 68, was the latest disappearance, vanishing without a trace on February 27, 2026, after reportedly leaving his home on foot with only a handgun.

The disappearance of McCasland, who reportedly held nuclear and UFO-related secrets, has been tied to Reza and Grillmair through their work on advanced missile or rocket science.

While commanding the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), the general supervised and approved funding for Reza’s work to invent a new metal used to create space-age rocket engines.

Meanwhile, Grillmair’s work with NEOWISE and NEO Surveyor has also been linked to the Air Force, as the NASA telescopes used the same systems the military relies on to track satellites and hypersonic missiles.

While Loureiro’s murder has not been directly connected to the other deaths and disappearances, Burchett, Swecker and independent investigators have noted that his revolutionary work in nuclear fusion may have made him a target of a greater conspiracy against US scientists.

Nuno Loureiro, 47, was assassinated at his home in the Boston suburb of Brookline on December 15, 2025. Authorities said the gunman was Claudio Neves Valente, a former classmate from Portugal.

’It’s been happening since the Cold War,’ Swecker explained. ’Especially when nuclear technology and missile technology were first coming to the forefront.’ 

Nuno Loureiro (Pictured) was leading efforts to create fusion energy, a form of clean energy that could upend the multi-trillion-dollar fossil fuel energy

Two others with ties to nuclear research went missing just weeks apart. Anthony Chavez and Melissa Casias, who both worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), vanished from their homes in 2025 under nearly identical circumstances.

Chavez, 79, worked at the nuclear research lab until his retirement in 2017. Casias, 54, was an active administrative assistant at the facility and is believed to have had top security clearance.

Both were last seen leaving their homes in New Mexico on foot, leaving behind their cars, keys, wallets and phones before disappearing without a trace nearly one year ago.

In another mysterious incident, Jason Thomas, a pharmaceutical researcher testing cancer treatments at Novartis, was found dead in a Massachusetts lake on March 17, 2026, after disappearing without a trace three months earlier.

Burchett has blasted the nation’s intelligence community, specifically calling out the so-called ‘alphabet agencies’ such as the FBI, for being unhelpful and frustrating his attempts to find out the truth about what has happened to these scientists.

‘The numbers seem very high in these certain areas of research. I think we’d better be paying attention, and I don’t think we should trust our government,’ he warned.

In a tense encounter at a Houston church, a security guard heroically subdued a Texas man armed with a loaded firearm and over 100 rounds of ammunition, preventing what could have been a tragic incident. According to police reports, 23-year-old Emmanuel Ahsono Mbwavi was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The unsettling event unfolded on March 15 at Eden Church, which hosts its Sunday morning services at the Post Entertainment Center located in downtown Houston. Court records reveal that Mbwavi had previously been on the church’s radar due to an incident two months prior, when he attempted to distribute “concerning” flyers, leading to his removal from the premises.

Given Mbwavi’s history with the church, the pastor took precautionary measures by instructing the security team to keep a close watch on him. Their vigilance proved crucial in averting a potential disaster, as the quick-thinking security guard acted decisively to tackle Mbwavi before he could cause harm.

According to court documents, a member of the church’s security team recognized Mbwavi, who had been asked to leave the property roughly two months earlier after he tried handing out “concerning” flyers.

Based on that history, the church’s pastor asked the security team to monitor Mbwavi.

The security guard told police he saw Mbwavi wearing a backpack and following a pastor into the bathroom, then walking in and out multiple times before disappearing into the crowd.

According to court documents, another pastor confronted Mbwavi, and while the two were speaking, the security guard noticed Mbwavi holding the grip of a pistol in his pocket.

The guard told police he saw Mbwavi reach for the gun and tackled him, believing he was about to harm members of the security team and congregation.

Mbwavi had his cellphone in his hand and was allegedly counting down, leading the guard to believe a bomb could be detonated.

The security team and members of the church assisted the guard in restraining Mbwavi.

While on the ground, Mbwavi allegedly shouted, “I’m going to kill [the pastor], who is a fake prophet. I am a prophet called Warlock.”

Mbwavi’s cellphone was allegedly open to a notes application containing information about killing the church’s pastor.

Mbwavi was carrying a .22-caliber revolver loaded with six live rounds, along with more than 100 additional rounds in his backpack, according to court documents.

In a tragic incident in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood, a 16-year-old boy lost his life to gun violence on Tuesday morning, as reported by local police.

The teen was walking north along the 7800 block of South Coles Avenue shortly before 9:15 a.m. when a vehicle carrying three to four male suspects approached him, according to law enforcement officials.

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One of the individuals in the vehicle brandished a firearm and began shooting, the Chicago Police Department stated.

SEE ALSO: Chicago mother claims self-defense in court over the stabbing death of her baby’s father

The young victim sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition, where he subsequently succumbed to his injuries, authorities confirmed.

No other injuries were reported, and Area Two detectives are investigating, police said.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the boy as Kenyae Franklin.

Safe Achieve Academy of Chicago, which is nearby, said in a statement that Franklin was a student there.

“We are a close-knit school community, and this loss is deeply felt by all,” the school said. “School team members immediately initiated lockdown procedures to protect students and staff. Local authorities responded quickly, and their investigation is ongoing. Our first priority, every day, is the safety and well-being of our students and staff. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of our student during this very difficult time.”

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