An Islamic man from Pakistan was arrested in Canada this week for allegedly planning a terrorist attack against Jews in New York City.
The U.S. Department of Justice said late on Friday that Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, was charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization (FTO).
Khan “attempted to travel from Canada to New York City, where he intended to use automatic and semi-automatic weapons to carry out a mass shooting in support of ISIS at a Jewish center in Brooklyn, New York,” prosecutors said.
He began posting on social media and on an encrypted messaging platform late last year that he supported ISIS and began distributing their propaganda, the DOJ said.
He allegedly told undercover law enforcement sources that he was working with a U.S.-based ISIS terrorist to carry out the attack and that he was trying to create an “offline cell” of ISIS terrorists who could launch a coordinated attack killing Jews at synagogues.
He wanted to carry out the attacks on either October 7 — the anniversary of Hamas’ unprecedented terrorist attack in Israel last year in which 1,200 people were murdered — or on October 11, which is the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.
He was originally targeting a city only referred to as “City-1” in the indictment, but changed the target to New York City.
Khan said that the Muslims were “going to NYC to slaughter them,” which he planned to do by shooting them with rifles or using knives to “slit their throats.”
“Khan repeatedly reiterated his desire to carry out the attack in support of ISIS, and discussed planning for the attack, including by identifying rental properties close to Location-1 and paying for a human smuggler to help him reach and cross the border from Canada into the United States,” the DOJ said. “During one communication, Khan noted that ‘if we succeed with our plan this would be the largest Attack on US soil since 9/11.”
The DOJ only charged him with a single count of attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.
“The defendant was allegedly determined to kill Jewish people here in the United States, nearly one year after Hamas’ horrific attack on Israel. This investigation was led by the FBI, and I am proud of the terrific work by the FBI team and our partners to disrupt Khan’s plan,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The FBI will continue to work closely with our partners to investigate and hold accountable those who seek to commit violence in the name of ISIS or other terrorist organizations. Fighting terrorism remains the FBI’s top priority.”
