CNN deleted a social media post Tuesday after outraged critics flamed it for trivializing the self-radicalized ISIS fanatics accused of hurling bombs at Gracie Mansion — calling them two “teenagers” who entered New York City for “what could’ve been a normal day.”
“Two Pennsylvania teenagers crossed into New York City Saturday morning for what could’ve been a normal day enjoying the city during abnormally warm weather,” said the tweet from the lefty news outlet, which was also the since-removed summary accompanying the full article, according to screenshots.
“But in less than an hour, their lives would drastically change as the pair would be arrested for throwing homemade bombs.”
By Tuesday morning, a link to the social media post produced an error message and the news outlet released a statement acknowledging it was deleted.
“A post regarding the two individuals arrested for throwing homemade bombs outside of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home failed to reflect the gravity of the incident thereby breaching the editorial standards we require for all our reporting. It has therefore been deleted,” CNN said in a statement.
The full article remained available on CNN’s site, notably referring to Ibraham Kayumi, 19, and Emir Balat, 18, as “two Pennsylvania men,” not “teenagers,” and omitting the flowery language on the weather and “what could’ve been a normal day.”
An editor’s note from CNN said a previous version of the story included a summary that was removed for the same breach of editorial standards.
Social media users blasted the post online, questioning how it made it through the editing process and mocking the writer’s casual tone.
“What sort of country do we live in, where two Pennsylvania teenagers aren’t allowed to enjoy a lovely spring day throwing bombs at people?” one user wrote.
Another joked: “Two guys on a day out in Manhattan. Plan: 1. A walk through sunny Central Park. 2. Brunch at a stylish cafe. 3. A little routine terrorism. 4. Haircut, maybe a manicure.”
“They framed two people who built homemade bombs as sympathetic figures whose lives were ‘drastically changed,’” yet another wrote. “That’s not a lapse in editorial standards, that’s the editorial standard working exactly as intended.”
Another social media user questioned how the tweet ever made it out of the draft stage, saying, “Someone signed off on both the headline and the social media post, and that person is drawing a paycheck from you. The people you hire are a direct reflection of your standards, and they seem pretty low.”
The FBI has raided the swanky homes of the two ISIS-inspired extremists accused of throwing homemade bombs near Gracie Mansion during a violent clash Saturday afternoon between right-wing agitators backing Jake Lang and pro-Muslim counter-protesters.
Kayumi and Balat both self-radicalized in recent years and traveled to Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other terror-training hot spots, The Post previously reported.
The pair admitted to cops that they also watched ISIS videos and tossed the bomb at right-wing agitators because they felt their religion was being insulted, according to law enforcement sources.
The homemade explosives — which did not detonate — were sports drink bottles filled with triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, a substance known as “Mother of Satan” and favored by terrorists since it can be made using household ingredients, The Post reported.
https://nypost.com/2026/03/10/media...d-terrorists-hurled-bombs-near-gracie-mansion (Archive)
