Pakistani man arrested in Canada on charges of attempting to plan Oct 7 terrorist attack 'to kill as many Jews as possible' in New York

A Pakistani national was arrested in Canada this week for allegedly plotting a mass shooting at a Jewish center in New York City on the anniversary of the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas militants against Israeli civilians.

Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, was charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to the terrorist organization ISIS, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“The defendant is alleged to have planned a terrorist attack in New York City around October 7th of this year with the stated goal of slaughtering, in the name of ISIS, as many Jewish people as possible,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. 

Khan was arrested by Canadian police after a material support of terrorism warrant was issued in New York. The DOJ stated that Khan had planned to travel from Canada to New York City to carry out a mass shooting at a Jewish center using automatic and semi-automatic firearms. He had also previously sent encrypted messages expressing support for ISIS and distributed ISIS propaganda.

"This planned antisemitic attack against Jewish people in the US is deplorable and there is no place for such ideological and hate-motivated crime in Canada," RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said.

Khan reportedly communicated with two individuals who were undercover law enforcement officers, discussing plans with a US-based ISIS supporter to carry out an attack in the US. He revealed his intentions to create a "real offline cell" of ISIS supporters to conduct a “coordinated assault.”

"He planned the attack with two people who he did not realise were undercover agents, according to a statement released by the FBI on Friday," the BBC reports. "He urged the undercover agents to acquire AR-style rifles, ammunition and hunting knifes for an attack."

Khan also mentioned in these communications how he would cross the border from Canada into the US to execute the attack, specifically stating 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.” Prosecutors said he intended to pay a human trafficker to get him across the border.

“New york is perfect to target jews,” Khan said, adding that the city 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.”

“If we succeed with our plan this would be the largest Attack on US soil since 9/11,” he wrote in one message.

If convicted, Khan faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The FBI field offices in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles are currently involved in the investigation. He will appear in court in Montreal on September 13.

"Jewish communities – like all communities in this country – should not have to fear that they will be targeted by a hate-fueled terrorist attack," Attorney General Garland added in his statement. "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."