“I’m saying they’re from different parts of Pennsylvania, they’re in different age groups, they’re not known to each other. They did not live together. They do not have family or school ties.”
An attorney representing one of the two men charged with an attempted ISIS-inspired attack in New York City over the weekend has claimed that his client did not know the other defendant charged in the case.
Speaking with reporters, the attorney representing Emir Balat, Mehei Essmiei, said, "I’m saying they’re from different parts of Pennsylvania, they’re in different age groups, they’re not known to each other. They did not live together. They do not have family or school ties."
https://twitter.com/TPostMillennial/status/2031110851059446032?s=20
"There is no reason to believe they knew each other prior to this incident, and I don’t know how well they knew each other at the time of this incident," he added.
Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, are both from Pennsylvania. Kayumi’s family owns a $2.25 million home in Newtown, PA, while Balat’s parents live in Langhorne, PA in a $653,000 house. The two towns are just under 5 miles apart.
The Council Rock School District confirmed on Monday that Kayumi graduated from Council Rock High School North in 2024. From the location of Balat’s parents’ home, which was raided by the FBI, it is likely he would have attended Neshaminy High School.
https://twitter.com/CB_Cotton/status/2031094993360761181?s=20
An unsealed complaint stated that a vehicle was found near the mansion that was registered to a member of Balat’s family in New Jersey. An automated license plate reader captured the car moving across the George Washington Bridge Upper Level Northbound on Saturday morning into New York City. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that the "vehicle that was tied to the suspects."
Balat and Kayumi have been charged with five counts in relation to the attempted attack: 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.
Balat allegedly threw an IED that failed to detonate outside the New York City governor’s mansion on Saturday. He then attempted to throw a second device that he had gotten from Kayumi, who was nearby. A third device was found in the car connected to the men.
Investigators are looking into the two suspects' travel to known "terror training grounds" in the Middle East. Balat had traveled to Turkey for several months in 2025, and returned to the US in January. Kayumi had traveled to Turkey and Saudi Arabia in 2024.
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