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A Pakistani man living in Canada who was arrested for allegedly plotting terrorist acts against New York’s Jewish population reportedly envisioned a multi-team simultaneous attack to maximize the body count.
Law enforcement officials arrested Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, in Canada, after he was accused of plotting to attack a Jewish center in Brooklyn on the one-year anniversary of the Hamas October 7 attacks in Israel.
Khan, allegedly tried to travel from his home in Canada to New York City to carry out the "stated goal of slaughtering, in the name of ISIS, as many Jewish people as possible," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on Friday.
The suspect — who also goes by the name Shazeb Jadoon — was taken into custody on September 4 and has been charged with trying to provide material support and resources to a foreign terror organization, which in this case was ISIS.
"Through our investigation, we discovered Khan used encrypted messaging apps in planning a mass shooting attack at a Jewish site in New York City," Rob Kissane, the New York Join Terrorism Task Force special agent in charge, told reporters on Friday.
It's unclear where Khan is being held following his arrest or if he will be extradited to the US to face charges.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan federal prosecutor's office told NPR that the case was being deferred to the Canadian government.
Khan landed on the radar of federal agents after he allegedly began sharing ISIS propaganda videos and discussing his support for the terror organization's causes beginning sometime in the fall of last year. During that time Khan began interacting with an individual who was actually a confidential informant for the FBI.
Evidence gathered from Khan's discussions suggested he was planning to amass weapons and ammunition to attack Jewish community centers in Brooklyn.
In early versions of his alleged plan, Khan envisioned the use of an AR-15 assault rifle to carry out a mass shooting and for a three-prong attack — six men total, with three teams of two — attacking three targets simultaneously and “maximizing the casualty count.”
He allegedly wanted the attacks to align with the October 7 Hamas attack that kicked off Israel's war in Gaza last year, or with the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur on October 11.
Khan allegedly told the undercover agents "if we succeed with our plan this would be the largest Attack [sic] on US soil since 9/11."
"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 in a statement.
On August 20 Khan told the confidential sources he was speaking with that he decided on targets in New York because of its large Jewish population. He also allegedly sent a photo of the Jewish center he intended to attack, according to the US Justice Department.
Khan allegedly described the site as the "the ultra orthodox hasidic jews world headquarters," according to investigators.
The 20-year-old was reportedly making his way toward the US-Canada border, where he intended to pay a smuggler to get him across the border. He allegedly used three different vehicles — which were driven by other people — before Canadian authorities stopped him in Ormstown, Quebec, and took him into custody.
Khan made it to approximately 12 miles (19km) of the US-Canada border before he was stopped.
"Terrorism has no place in our society," Kissane said. "This case underscores the commitment of our Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York City to continue to aggressively work to prevent deadly plots before they can be carried out. Our partners are on the front lines every day, united to protect our nation from those who threaten our safety and our way of life. We plan to keep up the good work,"
