Terror Plot Thwarted In London Hours After Police Commissioner Attends New York Summit Meeting
LONDON (CBSNewYork) -- Police in London announced they thwarted a terror plot Friday, just hours after their commissioner met with NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton in New York City.
As CBS2's Jessica Schneider reported officers from the London Metropolitan Police Service Counter Terrorism Command arrested four suspects overnight Thursday into Friday.
Three men – ages 19, 22 and 25 – were arrested in raids at their homes in West London and Thames Valley, and the fourth, age 27, was arrested on the street in West London by armed officers, London police said.
Police early Saturday London time were still searching homes and other addresses in the area.
Scotland Yard has been very tight-lipped about the arrests. But the terror bust came just days before Remembrance Sunday – the memorial day in the U.K. for the anniversary of the end of World War I.
Queen Elizabeth II will be attending the ceremonies over the weekend. The Sun newspaper reported that police believe the plot involved a threat to the queen, but police have not confirmed that information to CBS2.
In New York, European visitors offered stiff reactions to the alleged plots.
"I find it quite disgraceful that somebody would try to assassinate the Queen," one man said.
"They're going to try and attempt to stab her? That's craziness," Lee Mather added.
Terror Plot Thwarted In London Hours After Police Commissioner Attends New York Summit Meeting
The raid came just one day after London Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe met with Bratton at One Police Plaza in Lower Manhattan, and talked about how terror can manifest itself in big cities around the world.
The radical Islamic terror group ISIS has issued a call for "personal jihad" against targets in the West, and recent convert Zale Thompson picked up a hatchet and attacked four cops in Jamaica, Queens.
At the meeting, law enforcement leaders from across the Northeast and across the Atlantic Ocean talked about how terror can manifest in their respective cities
"Things are changing in different parts of the Middle East. These are things that actually materialize on the streets of our countries and we have to work together to deal with that," Hogan-Howe said at the meeting.
The "Operation Sentry" conference focused on officers collaborating to fight "lone wolf" terrorism, such as October's attack on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada.
"To fight a network, you need a network. And the 'Sentry' program brings together our network," NYPD Deputy Commissioner John Miller said Thursday.
Bratton said it's vital to build trust with communities, so people feel comfortable reporting their suspicions and concerns.
Following the raid in London early Friday, a police car was stationed outside the British Consulate at 845 Third Ave. in Midtown East.
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