Iraqi National Charged in Iran-Backed Terror Plot Targeting U.S. and Jewish Sites

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Islamist Extremism

Iraqi National Charged in Iran-Backed Terror Plot Targeting U.S. and Jewish Sites

• Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, 32, an Iraqi national and alleged senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, was arrested and charged May 15 with six terrorism-related offenses tied to alleged support for Kata’ib Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Justice Department said he helped coordinate attacks claimed by an Iran-backed terrorist organization in Europe and Canada and directed an undercover officer to target Jewish sites in the United States.
• According to the DOJ, Al-Saadi allegedly identified synagogues and Jewish institutions in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz., as potential targets and discussed methods of attack, including arson and the use of improvised explosive devices. Prosecutors also allege he sought to recruit individuals to carry out attacks on behalf of the organization.
• The criminal complaint describes a broader pattern of alleged targeting of U.S. and Jewish interests. Separately, recent reporting has linked Al-Saadi to an alleged assassination plot targeting Ivanka Trump, though that allegation is not part of the charges announced by the Justice Department. Al-Saadi was ordered detained pending trial. READ MORE

Militant-Right and Militant-Left Extremism

San Diego Mosque Shooters Left Neo-Nazi Manifesto Titled “The New Crusade: Sons of Tarrant”

• Investigators obtained a 75-page manifesto tied to Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, the alleged shooters who killed three people at the Islamic Center of San Diego, according to i24NEWS.
• The manifesto, titled “The New Crusade: Sons of Tarrant,” referenced Christchurch mosque attacker Brenton Tarrant and included neo-Nazi rhetoric targeting Jews, Muslims, immigrants, and the LGBT community.
• Investigators said the pair met online, wore swastikas and Atomwaffen-linked imagery, had “Race War Now” written on weapons and gear, and were linked to more than 30 guns, ammunition, and a crossbow recovered from two residences. READ MORE

Gunman Killed After Opening Fire Near White House Checkpoint

• Nasire Best, 21, was fatally shot by Secret Service officers on May 23 after opening fire near a White House security checkpoint at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., according to AP reporting.
• Authorities said Best pulled a weapon from a bag and began firing around 6 p.m.; officers returned fire, killing him, and a bystander was wounded in the exchange.
• President Donald Trump was at the White House at the time and was unharmed. Best had a prior 2025 encounter involving an attempted breach of another White House checkpoint. READ MORE

Hate Crimes

“Commander Butcher” Sentenced in Plot Targeting Jewish Children

• Michail Chkhikvishvili, a Georgian national also known as “Commander Butcher,” was sentenced May 13 in federal court in Brooklyn to 15 years in prison for soliciting hate crimes and distributing instructions to make bombs and ricin.
• Prosecutors said Chkhikvishvili was a leader of Maniac Murder Cult, also known as MKY, a neo-Nazi group that promotes violence against racial minorities, Jews, and other groups it deems “undesirable.”
• The DOJ said Chkhikvishvili planned a New Year’s Eve mass-casualty attack in New York City involving poisoned candy and later directed an undercover FBI employee to target Jewish schools and Jewish children in Brooklyn with poison. He also inspired multiple school shootings in the U.S. READ MORE

Man Pleads Guilty to Damaging Chabad-Lubavitch Headquarters

• Dan Sohail pleaded guilty on May 13 in federal court in Brooklyn to damaging religious property after repeatedly crashing his vehicle into the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Prosecutors said Sohail drove to the building on Jan. 28 while it was hosting an event marking the anniversary of the death of the Chabad movement’s leader, moved protective barriers at a side entrance, and gestured for congregants to move away.
• Sohail then drove his car into the side entrance, reversed, and accelerated into the entrance four more times, knocking the door off its hinges; he faces up to three years in prison and mandatory restitution. READ MORE

California Man Charged in Assault Near Pico-Robertson Synagogue

• Zaid Gitesatani, 28, of Carlsbad, Calif., was arrested May 18 on a federal indictment charging him with one hate crime count for allegedly assaulting a Jewish man near Adas Torah Synagogue in Los Angeles’ Pico-Robertson neighborhood.
• Prosecutors said Gitesatani traveled to Los Angeles for a June 23, 2024, protest outside a real estate event at the synagogue and approached the victim from behind while the victim was walking his dog.
• The indictment alleges Gitesatani punched the man in the jaw, then posted images and messages on Instagram bragging and describing the assault. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison. READ MORE

School Threats

Youth Arrested After Threat Against Leominster High School

• Authorities responded to Leominster High School in Leominster, Mass., on a Friday after receiving a report of a threat, NBC Boston reported.
• Police placed the school in “HOLD” status while law enforcement investigated; the nature of the threat was not disclosed.
• Leominster police said a juvenile suspect who was not a Leominster High student was arrested off-site, after which the school resumed normal operations with an increased police presence throughout the district. READ MORE

Three Volusia County Students Arrested in School Shooting Threat Cases

• Three Volusia County, Fla., students ages 11 to 13 were arrested after deputies said they made school shooting threats against teachers and students, according to Fox 35 Orlando.
• Investigators said a 12-year-old female student at Southwestern Middle School was identified through an IP address after an anonymous Feb. 22 tip reported a plan that named students, identified a teacher, and described when and where a shooting would begin.
• Deputies said a 13-year-old boy was charged after text messages showed the plan was discussed, and an 11-year-old student was arrested separately for allegedly using another student’s school account to send shooting threats to seven DeLand Middle School teachers. READ MORE

Foreign Influence

Federal Agencies Probe 145 groups, with $1B in Revenues, Allegedly Involved in Cuba Influence Network

• Fox News Digital reported May 23 that Justice and Treasury Department officials are investigating U.S. nonprofits and activist groups for allegedly coordinating lobbying, messaging, fundraising, delegations, and political organizing with Cuban government officials as part of a possible foreign influence campaign.
• The report said Fox News Digital identified 145 nonprofits, labor groups, advocacy organizations, and activist collectives with about $1 billion in combined annual revenue that mobilized in support of the Cuban government and the Communist Party of Cuba.
• The Cuban Embassy in Washington denied improper activity, saying its diplomats comply with the Vienna Convention and that engaging with civil society is part of diplomatic work; investigators are also examining whether aid campaigns, convoys, and flotillas violated sanctions or reporting rules. READ MORE

FBI Offers $200,000 Reward for Former Air Force Intelligence Specialist

• The FBI announced a $200,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of Monica Witt, 47, a former active-duty Air Force intelligence specialist and former Air Force Office of Special Investigations special agent accused of espionage.
• Witt, also known as Fatemah Zarah and Narges Witt, was federally indicted in Washington, D.C., in 2018 and accused of defecting to Iran and turning over classified information to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
• Fox News reported that Witt learned Persian Farsi at the Defense Language Institute, deployed overseas on classified signals intelligence missions, and later had access to a Special Access Program involving counterintelligence operations, source identities, and U.S. recruitment activities. READ MORE

–James Madison – The Federalist Papers

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