Teens' Online Radicalization Leads to Bomb Plot

0:00On March 12th, 18-year-old Emir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Nik Kayumi faced charges after trying to bomb a protest near Gracie Mansion. The New York City mayor's residence. On March 7th, the pair drove into Manhattan from New Jersey and tossed the jar filled with explosives and metal at anti-Muslim demonstrators. The device had a fuse but failed to go off, leaving no one hurt. Before this, Balat had a normal online business life. As a 13-year-old, he built bots to snag limited sneakers for resale, with his dad helping deliver them for over $200 each. When that market tanked, he switched to selling contractor supplies and earned solid customer feedback. Prosecutors say Balat bought 20 feet of slow burning fuse from a firework store near his home in early March. Just five days later, he and Kayumi made their move across the George Washington Bridge, parking blocks from the protest site. The two claim they acted to defend Islam against what they saw as defamation.

1:02Meanwhile, the protest involved Jake Lang, whose activities reportedly motivated them, the Lang himself faced the separate accusations of texting A, 15-year-old girl. This case highlights how online radicalization can pull young people into violence regardless of the cause and authorities continue investigating. Their ties to extremist influences.