CNN significantly changed a story and removed a social media post on Tuesday that downplayed an attempted terrorist attack over the weekend outside of Manhattan’s Gracie Mansion, initially writing that the suspects traveled from Pennsylvania for “what could’ve been a normal day” during the city’s “abnormally warm weather.”

The two individuals, who claimed inspiration from ISIS, allegedly threw improvised explosive devices at an anti-Muslim protest organized by white nationalist Jake Lang outside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s residence on Saturday. Neither bomb ultimately detonated. 

A CNN article about the attack, as well as a post by the outlet on X that shared identical language, initially described Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, as “two Pennsylvania teenagers” who “crossed into New York City Saturday morning for what could’ve been a normal day enjoying the city during abnormally warm weather.”

“But in less than an hour, their lives would drastically change as the pair would be arrested for throwing homemade bombs during an anti-Muslim protest outside of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home,” according to the story, which was written by Taylor Romine, Gloria Pazmino and Holly Yan. 

CNN later deleted the X post and added an editor’s note to its story, saying that the language “failed to reflect the gravity of the incident thereby breaching the editorial standards we require for all our reporting. It has therefore been deleted.”

The network updated the article multiple times since its initial social media post. Earlier on Tuesday morning it read, “Two Pennsylvania men on Saturday followed the route taken by thousands as they crossed the George Washington Bridge into New York City. But less than an hour later, their trajectory took a dark turn as they were arrested for throwing homemade bombs during an anti-Muslim protest outside of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home.”

The current version of the story states, “Investigators are digging deeper into the backgrounds of two terror suspects accused of tossing makeshift bombs at a protest outside the New York City mayor’s home in what authorities describe as an ISIS-inspired attack over the weekend.”

A CNN spokesperson told Jewish Insider that the outlet did not have comment beyond the editor’s note and statement issued on Tuesday.