An alleged would-be terrorist was arrested in Canada on Wednesday, accused of plotting a mass shooting at a Jewish center in New York City in support of ISIS.
Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, a Pakistani national who lives in Canada and also goes by the name Shahzeb Jadoon, has been charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization. He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
"The defendant was allegedly determined to kill Jewish people here in the United States, nearly one year after Hamas’s horrific attack on Israel," FBI Director Christopher Wray said. " 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."
Khan was arrested by Royal Canadian Mounted Police on a material support of terrorism warrant issued out of the Southern District of New York.
"As alleged, Khan attempted to travel to the United States to carry out a terrorist attack and murder as many Jewish people as possible, all in support of ISIS," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. "Khan’s alleged crimes are a vivid reminder that we must remain vigilant in the fight against antisemitism and terror."
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Williams added, "Thanks to our law enforcement partners and the career prosecutors of this Office, Khan’s alleged plan was disrupted before he reached the United States. Let this be a reminder to anyone who seeks to harm our community: This Office will stop at nothing to root you out and bring you to justice."
Khan had used encrypted messaging apps to plan the attack in Brooklyn since last November, including distributing pro-ISIS propaganda and videos and literature, the Department of Justice said in a news release.
He soon unknowingly began communicating with two undercover officers, telling them that he and an associate in the U.S. wanted to create "a real offline cell" of ISIS supporters to carry out a "coordinated assault" using AR-style assault rifles, and that they planned to "target Israeli Jewish chabads . . . scattered all around" an unnamed city other than New York.
He allegedly told the undercover officers to stock up on AR-style guns, ammunition and other supplies for the attack on the city, naming the specific locations where the shootings would happen.
He later told the officers to also get "some good hunting [knives] so we can slit their throats."
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"Oct 7th and oct 11th are the best days for targeting the jews" because "oct 7 they will surely have some protests and oct 11 is yom.kippur," Khan allegedly told the officers.
Around August 20, Khan said he wanted to attack Brooklyn, New York instead, naming a specific Jewish center.
"New york is perfect to target jews" since it has the "largest Jewish population In america" and therefore, "even if we dont attack a[n] Event[,] we could rack up easily a lot of jews," Khan allegedly said, adding, "we are going to nyc to slaughter them."
He added in one communication: "if we succeed with our plan this would be the largest Attack on US soil since 9/11."
"Terrorism has no place in our society," Ron Kissane, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force said in a video update on social media, "adding, "this case underscores the commitment of our joint Terrorism Task Force in New York City to continue to aggressively work to prevent plots before they can be carried out."
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said that Khan had planned the attack near Oct. 7, the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ unprovoked attack on Israel "with the stated goal of slaughtering, in the name of ISIS, as many Jewish people as possible."
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"Jewish communities – like all communities in this country – should not have to fear that they will be targeted by a hate-fueled terrorist attack," Garland said. "The Justice Department will continue to work closely with our domestic and international partners to aggressively counter the threat posed by ISIS and other terrorist organizations and their supporters."
