The FBI recently disclosed that it disrupted and dismantled an ISIS-inspired plot to conduct a mass casualty event in Western Pennsylvania. This is normally a top item across the Elitist Media Evening News. And it was, but for one notable exception.
ABC’s World News Tonight completely omitted any mention of the busted ISIS plot despite covering it on Good Morning America. Viewers of World News Tonight, accustomed to David Muir normally leading off with the weather, instead got this all-important news item as its top story:
ABC World News Tonight goes with something other than weather as its top story tonight: the backlash against Ed Sheeran for throwing Macklemore off his tour (with a little guidance from NFL stadium owners) pic.twitter.com/JENMUDgrg4
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) September 15, 2026
To be clear, ABC refused to cover the breakup of an actual ISIS plot in order to give top billing to the whiny bleatings of a washed anti-semite. NFL owners (led by Bob Kraft) rightly decided that it is bad business to have the aforementioned anti-semites performing in their respective venues. The most Trump-deranged of the three major network newscasts also runs the highest frequency of nonlethal automotive and aviation mishaps as omission filler- precisely so as to run the clock down on important and sometimes counternarrative stories such as these.
In contrast, the CBS Evening News led off with the ISIS plot. I’m certain the Media Hall Monitor Bros will find a way to say this is somehow "mAgA-cOdEd:"
WATCH: The @CBSEveningNews opened last night with a proper top story- the busted ISIS plot in Western PA, as opposed to Macklemore or the weather. The Media Hall Monitor Bros will find a way to say this is somehow "MAGA-coded:"
TONY DOKOUPIL: And good evening. We begin with what… pic.twitter.com/X1Hn1JeVhc— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) September 16, 2026
TONY DOKOUPIL: And good evening. We begin with what the FBI says was intended to be a mass casualty attack inspired by ISIS and carried out by a 21-year-old man from Pennsylvania. Agents allegedly tracked the young man to a hotel where they arrested him, and a search of his home and room found 30 knives, 190 rounds of ammunition and a semiautomatic rifle with five magazines, two of them already loaded. His name, authorities say, was Jonathan Hunter Kramer though he claimed ISIS ties online under the name Hamza al-Rashid. It's at least the second ISIS-inspired plot to surface since August.
What followed was a full report by Nicole Sganga, with additional details of the plot, law enforcement soundbites, and analysis from a retired law enforcement official. No filler, no fluff, just the facts.
NBC did the same, although running it as their second story. The report from Erin McLaughlin pretty much echoes Sganga’s item, with the exception of some witness off-camera testimony. Both items were straight up, with no conjecture.
ABC did choose an FBI item: a tiny brief on a busted Russian intel murder-for-hire plot near the bottom of A-block, well below Macklemore and right after Arch Manning’s struggle session. Par for the course for Disney-ABC News.
Click “expand” to view the full transcripts of the aforementioned reports as aired on their respective newscasts on Tuesday, September 15th, 2026:
CBS EVENING NEWS
9/16/26
6:31 PM
TONY DOKOUPIL: And good evening. We begin with what the FBI says was intended to be a mass casualty attack inspired by ISIS and carried out by a 21-year-old man from Pennsylvania. Agents allegedly tracked the young man to a hotel where they arrested him, and a search of his home and room found 30 knives, 190 rounds of ammunition and a semiautomatic rifle with five magazines, two of them already loaded. His name, authorities say, was Jonathan Hunter Kramer though he claimed ISIS ties online under the name Hamza al-Rashid. It's at least the second ISIS-inspired plot to surface since August. We’ve got a report tonight from Homeland Security and Justice Correspondent Nicole Sganga.
NICOLE SGANGA: Authorities in western Pennsylvania said 21-year-old Jonathan Hunter Kramer had been on the radar for three years because of his dangerous behavior as a juvenile. And then last week, on an encrypted messaging platform using the name Hamza al-Rashid, Kramer allegedly wrote "I am preparing for my mission. I just need a weapon." Investigators say he met someone in a Walmart parking lot and received a long black bag. According to the affidavit, agents recovered this semiautomatic rifle, a scope, pepper spray plus several magazines, and 190 rounds of ammunition.
RICHARD EVANCHEC (SAIC FBI PITTSBURGH): He armed himself to carry out a mass casualty attack against the American people and was doing so right here in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.
SGANGA: The alleged scheme follows two other ISIS-inspired cases in New York state. Two men were accused of trying to detonate explosives outside the New York mayor's residence in March and just last month, an Albany woman was charged with plotting to bomb New York State's capitol. Lance Leising is a former prosecutor and supervisory special agent for the FBI.
This arrest happened 25 years and one day after the 9/11 attacks. Is that a stark reminder?
LANCE LEISING: Yeah, the danger hasn't gone away. I mean, it's always there. These groups wait. They’ll keep that grievance, they’ll hold on to that passion and radicalization and they'll wait for an opportunity and- and this was one that luckily law enforcement got in front of.
SGANGA: This investigation remains ongoing. Authorities have charged Kramer with receiving a firearm and ammunition for use in a federal crime of terrorism. Tony.
DOKOUPIL: Nicole, thank you.
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
9/15/26
6:35 PM
TOM LLAMAS: This is also developing tonight, the FBI saying they've stopped an ISIS terror attack, arresting a sus- arresting a suspect they say was preparing to unleash a mass casualty event with an AR-15 style rifle. Here's Erin McLaughlin.
ERIN McLAUGHLIN: Tonight, an alleged ISIS attack foiled. This image obtained by NBC Channel 11 in Pittsburgh shows the moment a terror suspect is arrested by the FBI, accused of planning a mass casualty event in the name of the Islamic State.
RICHARD EVANCHEC (SAIC FBI PITTSBURGH): These actions demonstrate a sustained commitment to ISIS, and a clear intent to conduct a violent attack in the United States to harm the American people.
McLAUGHLIN: These are the weapons the FBI says they found during the arrest of 21-year-old Jonathan Kramer, including a semiautomatic rifle, 190 rounds of ammunition, and two loaded rifle magazines.
WITNESS: This guy approached me and was a real odd person.
McLAUGHLIN: This hotel guest, who asked not to be identified, says he'd seen Kramer in the hotel.
WITNESS: As he was walking away from me, I overheard him say “today is the day,” and that just was really unsettling with me.
McLAUGHLIN: According to court documents, the FBI had been watching Kramer since March, shortly after he'd been released from juvenile detention for his role in a 2023 plot to commit a mass casualty incident. The FBI then tracked Kramer’s online activity.
TROY RIVETTI (USATTY WESTERN PA): On September 9th, 2026, he expressed his intent to prepare for his, quote, “mission,” claiming: “I just need a weapon and as soon as I have that, I am ready.”
McLAUGHLIN: The court documents did not reveal a date or location for the alleged ISIS plot. Tom.
LLAMAS: Erin, thank you.
