7:34
Late this evening, we learned the US and Nigerian forces killed a man said to be second in command of ISIS. President Trump says the mission in Africa was complex and he thanked the government of Nigeria for their help in the operation. This comes on the same day when federal authorities arrested a man they say is a terrorist commander with ties to an Iraqi terror group. Investigators say Mohammad Al-Saadi was planning attacks at Jewish sites here in Los Angeles as well as New York and Arizona. The alleged terror plot comes more than two months after the US and Israel launched a war against Iran. NBC 4's Robert Kovac is here now with more on the arrest and the efforts to keep local places of worship safe. Robert.
are getting some details for you, Carolyn. According to the complaint, the man now in custody tried to hire an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a Mexican cartel member. The request set fire to a New York synagogue and two Jewish centers on the West Coast. He would pay 10 grand and asked that he recorded the fires as he set them. Now, we don't know the specific center locally that was the alleged target as tonight our Jewish community and our law enforcement remain vigilant. Tonight, the FBI and NYPD saying they foiled potential terror attacks against Jewish sites in New York, here in LA, and Scottsdale. Plots they say are all tied to the Iranian regime. This man, Mohammad Al-Saadi, now held in a New York jail cell, is an alleged
high-ranking member of the mysterious terror group called HAY'AT. Authorities say they've already carried out 18 terror attacks in Europe, primarily targeting the Jewish community, including this suspect tackled by British police after a stabbing rampage outside of a London mosque, and the group carrying out the firebombing of this Belgian synagogue. Tonight, the FBI says HAYI is a front for the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah. And they say Elsadi's ties go right to the top of the Iranian regime. Multiple photos show Elsadi with former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Commander Qassem Soleimani, killed in a US drone strike during President Trump's first term. Elsadi has specifically threatened
to kill President Trump on social media. He is certainly a leader in this terrorist organization and he was directing and inspiring terrorist attacks. These photos, exclusively obtained by NBC News, show his arrival in New York last night after he was taken into custody by Turkish authorities. According to prosecutors, they say since April he's been communicating with an undercover officer offering to pay tens of thousands of dollars to attack Jewish sites in the US. And so, once again, law enforcement here in Southern California, including the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, stepping up patrols around houses of worship. This video of deputies in West Hollywood doing just
that months ago after a previous terror threat. Now, another one averted. Thank god that they were able to take care of this in advance and be proactive and stop the incident from happening. Those are the best types of incidents. And it shows on the reality of what we're facing these days. The Anti-Defamation League backing that up with statistics, telling NBC 4 there have been 22 anti-Semitic attacks in LA in the last year. That means approximately every other week somebody in the greater Los Angeles area was violently attacked for being Jewish. The news today that an alleged Iranian terror plot included plots against institutions here in Los Angeles, Jewish
institutions here in Los Angeles, just reinforces that sense of fear and concern. New York City's police commissioner saying today this case puts into stark relief the global threats posed by the Iranian regime targeting Jewish communities across Europe and the United States since the war began. The public defender says al-Sadi considers himself to be a political prisoner and should be treated like a prisoner of war. I'm Robert Kovac, Carolyn. Robert, thank you.
