Mainstream Media Headlines Use Subtle Spin to Hide Truth About ISIS-Inspired NYC Attack

It’s almost as if the media doesn’t want you to know the truth about the two self-styled Islamists accused of throwing bombs outside Gracie Mansion in New York City on Saturday.

And it shouldn’t be a particularly difficult case to dissect. Two Pennsylvania Muslim men, 19-year-old Ibraham Kayumi and 18-year-old Emir Balat, allegedly threw what authorities are describing as homemade improvised explosive devices at conservatives protesting the “Islamification of NYC.”

Video shows one of the men shouting “Allahu Akbar.” Thankfully, the bombs didn’t explode as they were planned. The men have been charged with attempting to support the Islamic State group and using a weapon of mass destruction, according to the BBC.

Both men arrested explicitly told authorities they were associated with the violent terror group during interviews after waiving their right to remain silent, with Balat saying he had wanted the attack to be “even bigger than the Boston Marathon bombing, which he noted resulted in only three deaths.”

“We were fortunate that the devices used this weekend did not cause the kind of harm that they were certainly capable of causing,” said New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Monday. “But luck is never a strategy. Devices like these have the potential to cause devastating harm.”

Additional harm can be caused by a media that refuses to cover the attacks as if they were aimed at conservative protesters by Islamists using bombs.

At first, you got headlines like this profoundly dishonest one from The New York Times, which called the bombs “smoking jars of metal and fuses”:

“Smoking Jars of Metal and Fuses Thrown at Protest Near Mayor’s House”

It was a bomb that the NYPD said could have killed people. Two Muslim extremist suspects have been arrested for that attack on the anti-Islam protest. The two suspects praised allah after their capture.… pic.twitter.com/R7POlxZd3K

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) March 8, 2026

The headline would later be updated to note that these were indeed bombs.

However, it wasn’t just the Times. For instance, CBS News’ report seemed to indicate that the IED-throwers were among the conservative protesters, from the way the graphics were arranged:

CBS Evening News shows an image of Trump supporters when describing the attempted IED attack in New York City that’s now being investigated as ISIS-inspired terrorism.

Unreal. pic.twitter.com/566TOs0Fnw

— johnny maga (@johnnymaga) March 9, 2026

And when these media sources weren’t implying that it was the conservatives via an act of commission, it was through an act of omission.

Take NBC News’ headline/subheadline: “Device ignited at Gracie Mansion protest was an improvised explosive, NYPD says; Two men were taken into custody after one of two devices was ignited during an anti-Islam demonstration and a counterprotest outside the mayor’s residence.” That doesn’t mention that the men were allegedly ISIS-loving fanatics.

In a similar vein, many sources implied through their headline that Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Muslim, was the target, even though he was thoroughly uninvolved in this. Reuters, for instance: “New York City police identify device outside Mamdani’s home as explosive.” Or Axios: “‘Explosive’ device thrown outside NYC Mayor Mamdani’s residence: NYPD.”

It’s a favorite saying among conservatives: You don’t hate the media enough. This is why. They know precisely what they’re doing, and these are sources that masquerade as objective just-the-facts-ma’am stuff.

By simply eliding over the important facts, namely, that two Islamists reportedly tried to kill more people than the Boston Marathon bombers did because right-wingers had the temerity to exercise their First Amendment privileges, they’ve created a false impression that it was actually the other side who was responsible for this. Don’t be fooled.

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