A Pakistani citizen living in Canada planned to come to New York and carry out a terrorist attack because it has "largest Jewish population In america."
Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon was extradited to the U.S. June 10, and appeared in court June 11. He is charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization (FTO), the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), and attempting to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
"Khan allegedly tried to enter the United States to commit an attack on the Jewish community in New York City, planning an ISIS-inspired mass shooting around the one-year anniversary of the [Oct. 7] attack," said FBI Director Kash Patel.
Radio Canada reported that Khan was in Canada on a student visa.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Khan planned 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.
Khan began voicing support of ISIS on social media in 2023, prosecutors said. Eventually, he began communicating with two undercover law enforcement officers via an encrypted messaging application. During those conversations, prosecutors content that Khan urged the officers to purchase the materials needed for the attack.
Khan said that he was actively attempting to create "a real offline cell" of ISIS supporters to carry out a "coordinated assault" using AR-style rifles to "target[] Israeli Jewish chabads."
Khan repeatedly told the undercover officers to buy rifles ammunition and other needed materials, emphasizing that "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."
In other comments, Khan focused on New York saying "New york is perfect to target jews" because 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 proclaimed that "we are going to nyc to slaughter them."
Aside from guns, Khan also suggested that the officers get "some good hunting [knives] so we can slit their throats," adding "if we succeed with our plan this would be the largest Attack on US soil since 9/11."
Aside from asking the undercover officers to purchase the weapons for the planned attack, Khan also looked for rental properties near one of his planned targets and paid for a human smuggler to help him reach and cross the border from Canada into the United States.
In September 2024, Khan headed for the U.S. border, according to federal prosecutors. During his journey, he used three different cars as he traveled across Canada toward the United States. Khan was stopped by Canadian authorities near Ormstown, Canada, about 12 miles from the border.
If convicted, Khan faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
