“Anything can set it off, heat, friction, impact. It’s cheap, hard to detect but highly unstable. It’s a mixture of stuff found in common hardware and drug stores.”
The volatile substance used in the making of the bomb hurled outside New York City’s Gracie Mansion over the weekend, known as "Mother of Satan," has been used in terrorist attacks around the globe for over a decade.
A federal complaint unsealed on Monday said that preliminary testing of one of the devices used "indicates that it contained a quantity of triacetone triperoxide, a highly volatile material used in multiple terrorist attacks over the last decade."
One law enforcement source told the New York Post of the explosive substance TATP, "Anything can set it off, heat, friction, impact. It’s cheap, hard to detect but highly unstable. It’s a mixture of stuff found in common hardware and drug stores." The source added, "You can get it pretty much anywhere, and it’s hard to detect. The downside is it’s very sensitive and unstable. If you drop it or something falls on the mixture, it will detonate."
The devices were around the size of a mason jar, had an attached fuse, and had "nuts and bolts attached to the exterior, surrounded by duct tape," per the complaint. Authorities recovered a notebook from inside a vehicle connected to the suspects. "One page of the notebook contains the note 'TATP explosive’; another page contains a list of chemical ingredients, including 'hydrogen peroxide,’ 'sulfuric acid,’ and 'acetone’; and a third page contains a list of components and quantities, such as 'aluminum can x6,' and 'a box of bolts ect [sic] 2x,'" the complaint stated.
In New Delhi, India on November 10, more than a dozen people were killed in an explosion involving TATP. The explosive substance was also tied to a pair of 2017 terror attacks in Barcelona, Spain, and Manchester, England, in which 13 and 22 people were killed, respectively. The Manchester attack took place at an Ariana Grande concert, with the bomb consisting of a paint can, TATP, and a detonator, as well as nuts and bolts, per the BBC.
Additional terror bombings that include "Mother of Satan" include the 2016 attack in Brussels, Belgium in which 32 people were killed and over 300 others were injured, and the 2015 attack on a soccer match in a Paris suburb that left dozens dead.
The source said of the attempted bombing outside Gracie Mansion, "all we did was get lucky. They didn’t get the right mixture or concentration. This is just luck no one is dead."
Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, have been charged with attempting an ISIS-inspired bombing outside the mayor’s mansion on Saturday. The two are alleged to have attempted to detonate two explosive devices amid a protest and counter-protest in the area, and a third explosive device was discovered in a nearby car linked to the suspects. Balat pledged allegiance to ISIS, while Kayumi said he was affiliated with the terrorist group.
The two have been charged with attempted provision of material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, use of a weapon of mass destruction, transportation of explosive materials, interstate transportation and receipt of explosives, and unlawful possession of destructive devices.
Libby’s Desk
Commentary and must-reads from Libby’s desk, straight to your inbox.
TPM Newsletter
The Post Millennial’s top stories, delivered to your inbox.
