A Pakistani man was arrested this week in Canada and charged with planning a terrorist attack in Brooklyn aimed at killing “as many Jews as possible,” authorities said.
Muhammad Shahzeb Khan was arrested Wednesday about 12 miles (19 kilometers) north of the U.S.-Canada border as he was headed to New York to commit a mass shooting, the Justice Department said.
The 20-year-old Pakistani man targeted a Jewish center in Brooklyn and planned to carry out his attack on Oct. 7, the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, federal authorities said. They did not specify the exact location of the attack.
Khan, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, began sharing ISIS propaganda videos and expressing support for the group on social media in November 2023, eventually sending messages to two undercover law enforcement officers, according to the criminal complaint.
He claimed he was trying to create an ISIS cell to carry out attacks against “Israeli Jewish Chabads” in the United States, authorities said.
Khan wrote that “October 7 and 11 are the best days to target Jews” because “on October 7 there will surely be protests and October 11 is Yom Kippur.”
Last month, Khan targeted a Jewish center in Brooklyn and even sent undercover agents a photo of the site, the feds said.
He was accused of attempting to provide material support and resources to ISIS.
Khan had “the stated goal of slaughtering, in the name of ISIS, as many Jews as possible,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement Friday. “We are deeply grateful to our Canadian partners for their critical law enforcement actions in this case.”
“Jewish communities – like all communities in this country – should not be afraid of being the target of a hate-motivated terrorist attack,” Garland said.
In his messages, according to the complaint, Khan boasted that “New York is perfect for targeting Jews” because it has the “largest Jewish population in the United States.”
He wrote that “we could easily attract a lot of Jews,” according to the complaint.
Khan urged undercover agents to equip themselves with AR-style rifles, ammunition and other weapons, including “good hunting rifles.” [knives] “so we can slit their throats,” the complaint says.
“If we succeed in our plan, it would be the largest attack on American soil since 9/11,” he boasted.
Khan used three different cars to cross from Canada to the United States, and was arrested near Ormstown, Canada, about 20 minutes upstate New York.
It was not immediately clear where Khan is being held in Canada or when he will be extradited to the United States to face charges.
The Justice Department’s National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section and federal prosecutors in Manhattan will prosecute the case.
If convicted, Khan faces up to 20 years in prison.
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