{"id":235799,"date":"2026-05-18T20:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T20:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/235799\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T20:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T20:25:08","slug":"federal-prosecutors-unseal-terror-charges-in-foiled-new-york-synagogue-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/235799\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal prosecutors unseal terror charges in foiled New York synagogue attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

A high-level commander in an Iranian-tied militant group was indicted<\/a> on an attempt to coordinate a terrorist attack on a New York City synagogue and multiple terror attacks and stabbings across the globe, according to federal court documents unsealed Friday.<\/p>\n

Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, an Iraqi national, was accused of organizing and supporting a thwarted terrorist attack on a NYC synagogue along with around 18 other attacks across Europe and Canada, court documents said.<\/p>\n

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch<\/a> spoke about the charges Friday at Temple Emanu-El, a Reform Judaism synagogue just east of Central Park, to honor Jerusalem Day, which celebrates the reunification of Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlain and simple, he was targeting the heart of our Jewish community,\u201d Tisch said.\n<\/p>\n

In early April, al-Saadi allegedly communicated a map and other identifying details of the synagogue to another person in an attempt to coordinate arson or an improvised explosive device detonation outside the worship space, which he said was a \u201cbeacon of solidarity and support\u201d to Israel in exchange for a cryptocurrency payment of $10,000 in total.<\/p>\n

Court documents and Tisch both failed to identify the targeted house of worship outside, calling it a \u201cprominent Jewish synagogue.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Terror indictment amid an outbreak of hate<\/p>\n

The news came as both antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes rose in the city, with disturbing graffiti appearing on synagogues across Queens<\/a>, anti-Muslim attacks in Brooklyn, and most recently, protests and counter-protests surrounding an event promoting the sale of land in the occupied Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n

The indictment illustrated the continued tensions over the war in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Al-Saadi was allegedly convinced the conflict would never end, writing \u201ceither they will eradicate us or we will eradicate them,\u201d according to court documents.<\/p>\n

The alleged commander of Kataib Hezbollah, a federally designated terrorist organization, publicly urged his followers to \u201ckill everyone who supports America and Israel\u201d through his various social media channels. The investigation leading to his arrest was led by the FBI\u2019s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, a federal, state and local law enforcement partnership.<\/p>\n

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York said that the charges demonstrated the continued threat posed by foreign terrorist organizations attempting to inspire and coordinate violence within the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cAl-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,\u201d Clayton said. \u201cIn a righteous and just contrast, his prosecution will highlight the best of our country. Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following a controversial social media post on Friday honoring the Nakba, a day Palestinians observe to honor the \u201ccatastrophe\u201d when Palestinians were displaced from their homes en masse during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the plot against the local synagogue on social media.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me be clear: antisemitism, violent extremism, and terrorism have no place in our city,\u201d Mamdani said on his X account Saturday. \u201cThis kind of hate is despicable. I\u2019m thankful this alleged attack was stopped before any New Yorkers were hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A high-level commander in an Iranian-tied militant group was indicted on an attempt to coordinate a terrorist attack…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[3862,8070,419,303,64076,10685,4363,1445,9,24,63,103,122,124,123,26120],"class_list":["post-235799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-antisemitism","tag-commissioner-jessica-tisch","tag-courts","tag-crime","tag-federal-charges","tag-hate-crimes","tag-islamophobia","tag-mamdani","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-nypd","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-synagogue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}