"Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said on Friday, hours after federal prosecutors said that they had thwarted the plot. The commander, Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, who had organized at least 20 attacks in Europe and Canada, had also planned to kill Americans and Jews in Los Angeles and had set his sites on a synagogue in Manhattan, Ms. Tisch said."
"She did not name the synagogue but said Mr. al-Saadi had chosen a place that supported Israel and Zionism. Mr. al-Saadi, who was detained in Turkey and handed over to U.S. authorities, appeared in federal court in Manhattan on Friday. He did not enter a plea and a hearing was set for May 29."
"According to the indictment, the commander wanted to send a message to a congregation that stood for the right for Israel to exist. Right now, we are policing through a period of extraordinary tension and division, Ms. Tisch said during a speech at Temple Emanu-El, where she had already been scheduled to speak at the Friday night prayer services."
"She said that she had intended to talk about the decrease in crime in New York City and the growing number of anti-Semitic incidents in the city and around the world since the attacks against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the wars that followed in Gaza and in Iran."
Federal prosecutors thwarted a planned attack on a New York synagogue by Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, an Iranian-backed militia commander detained in Turkey and handed to U.S. authorities. Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said the target was the heart of the Jewish community and that the commander had organized at least 20 attacks in Europe and Canada. She said he also planned to kill Americans and Jews in Los Angeles and chose a Manhattan synagogue that supported Israel and Zionism. The indictment said he wanted to send a message to a congregation that supported Israel’s right to exist. He appeared in federal court in Manhattan without entering a plea, and a hearing was set for May 29.
Read at www.nytimes.com
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