NEW YORK (AP) — A Pakistani man was arrested in Canada this week for plotting a mass shooting at a Brooklyn Jewish center on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that sparked the latest conflict in the Middle East, federal authorities announced Friday.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said Muhammad Shahzeb Khan attempted to travel from Canada, where he lived, to New York City with the “stated goal of slaughtering as many Jews as possible, in the name of ISIS”.
The 20-year-old, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, was arrested on September 4 and charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to the terrorist group, which stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham.
“As I told Canada’s Minister of Public Safety yesterday, we are extremely grateful to our Canadian partners for their important law enforcement actions in this matter,” Garland said in a statement. “The Jewish community — like all communities in this country — should not have to fear that they will be the target of a hate-motivated terrorist attack.”
It was not clear whether Khan had an attorney. There was no listing of the case in the federal court system online. Edward Kim, a spokesman for the Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office, which is handling the case, declined to answer further questions, including where Khan was being held and when he would be brought to the United States to face charges. He deferred to Canadian authorities, who did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
US authorities said Khan began sharing ISIS propaganda videos and expressing his support for the terrorist group in social media posts and exchanges with others on an encrypted messaging app last November.
During a conversation with two undercover police officers, he confirmed that he and another US-based ISIS supporter planned to carry out attacks on Jewish centers in the US and needed AR-style assault rifles, ammunition and other materials, according to the Justice Department.
Khan also provided details about how he would cross the border from Canada into the United States and was considering carrying out attacks on the Oct. 7 or Oct. 11 anniversary of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, authorities said.
Then, on August 20, he told undercover officers that he had decided to target New York City because of its large Jewish population and sent a photo of the specific area inside a Jewish center where he planned to carry out the attack, according to the Justice Department.
Federal authorities said Khan used three separate vehicles to begin his journey to the United States but was stopped near Ormstown, a town in the Canadian province of Quebec about 12 miles (19 km) from the U.S. border.
