Southwest
Wife of Army soldier detained in Russia previously retained divorce lawyer, not aware of his travels: attorney
The wife of a U.S. Army soldier being detained in Russia while visiting a girlfriend retained a divorce lawyer in 2022, and was not aware of his travels, her lawyer said Thursday.
Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, an infantry soldier, was detained in the Russian port city of Vladivostok on May 2. He was charged with criminal misconduct and is accused of stealing from his longtime girlfriend.
The regional branch of the Russian Interior Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that Black and his girlfriend had a conflict, and she reported him to the police, claiming that she found cash missing after he stayed with her, The Associated Press reported.
EVAN GERSHKOVICH MARKS ONE YEAR IMPRISONED IN RUSSIA AS FRIENDS CAN ONLY WAIT FOR ‘NIGHTMARE’ TO END
Gordon Black, a U.S. Army serviceman detained in Russia, poses for a selfie in this picture obtained from social media, in an unspecified location. (Gordon Black via Facebook/Reuters)
Black, who had out-processed from his duty station in South Korea, was supposed to fly back to the U.S. to report to Fort Cavazos, Texas.
“Megan Black wishes to make clear that she had no advance knowledge of Mr. Black’s intentions to travel to Russia,” her attorney, Brett Pritchard, said in a statement.
She became aware of her husband being absent from Fort Cavaszos when Army investigators reached out to her about his whereabouts, Pritchard said.
Gordon Black’s mother, Melody Jones, said she believes her son was set up. She said her son’s relationship with the Russian woman was “volatile,” and that she suspected the longtime girlfriend might be a spy.
“I knew something was going to happen,” Jones told “GMA.” “I felt like he was being set up by her.”
U.S. Army soldier Gordon Black sends a holiday message from Iraq in 2009. His wife says she was not aware of his recent travel to Russia and had hired a divorce lawyer in July 2022 to begin efforts to dissolve the marriage, her attorney said Thursday. (U.S. Dept. of Defense)
Black’s wife believes his decision to go to Russia, at a time when relations between Washington and Moscow are severely strained, was “ill-advised” but was motivated by “entirely personal reasons involving an extra-marital affair between himself and a Russian national, and that Mr. Black is not involved in any form of geopolitical intrigue.”
Pritchard confirmed that Megan Black retained his services in July 2022 to initiate divorce proceedings after nine years of marriage to her husband. The couple share a 6-year-old daughter, he said.
The pair have known each other since 2014 and got married in Belton, Texas, a suburb near the Army installation, after Black was assigned there, Pritchard said.
The Russian port city of Vladivostok. It is where U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Gordon Black was detained last Thursday. (Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP via Getty Images)
Megan Black hopes her husband returns to the U.S. safely as soon as possible, Pritchard said. His arrest has put a strain on their daughter, “who has to deal with the dual uncertainty of not knowing when she will see or hear from her father again.”
Meanwhile, the divorce proceedings remain “in limbo by a Texas family law court pending a potentially indefinite resolution of Mr. Black’s incarceration status,” Pritchard said.
Fox News Digital’s Pilar Arias contributed to this report.
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Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say
A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.
The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.
“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”
Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… 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.”
In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”
The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.
In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City.
Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.
Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”
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A guide to surviving rip currents from the National Weather Service (NWS)
Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.
“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.
Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.
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