A Pakistani citizen and Canadian resident, Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, was arrested in Canada on September 4 in connection with a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York. Khan was charged with “attempting to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization designated the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).” Evidence shows that the defendant planned a terrorist attack in New York City on or about October 7 of this year “with the stated goal of massacring, in the name of ISIS, as many Jews as possible,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said. As stated in the complaint, Khan, who was a Canadian resident, attempted to travel from Canada to New York City, where he intended 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 posting on social media and communicating with others on an encrypted messaging app about his support for ISIS in or around November 2023, when, among other things, Khan distributed videos and jihadist propaganda. The man subsequently began communicating with two undercover FBI agents. During those conversations, Khan confirmed that he and another U.S.-based ISIS supporter had planned to carry out an attack in a particular U.S. city. Among other things, Khan said he was actively “attempting to create a true offline cell of ISIS supporters to carry out a coordinated assault using AR-style rifles to target Israeli Jewish ‘chabads’… spread throughout.” During subsequent conversations, Khan repeatedly directed the two FBI agents to procure AR-style assault rifles, ammunition, and other materials to carry out the attacks, and identified specific locations in New York where the attacks would take place. Khan also provided details about how he would cross the border from Canada into the United States to conduct the attacks. During these conversations, Khan stressed that “October 7 and 11 are the best days to target Jews because ‘October 7 will definitely be protests and October 11 is Yom Kippur.’”
Around August 20, after initially suggesting certain neighborhoods in New York City to the UC, Khan decided to target a Jewish center located in Brooklyn, New York. Khan told agents that he planned to carry out this attack around October 7, 2024, which Khan acknowledged as the first anniversary of brutal terror attacks in Israel by Hamas. In support of his choice of New York City as a target location, Khan boasted that “New York is perfect for targeting Jews because it has the largest Jewish population in America and so even if we don’t attack an event we can easily accumulate a lot of Jews.” Khan also stated, “We are going to New York to slaughter them,” and sent a photograph of the specific area where he planned to carry out the attack.
Khan subsequently continued to solicit what he believed to be accomplices to purchase AR-style rifles, ammunition and other equipment for his attack, including “some good hunting knives so we can cut their throats.” Khan repeatedly reiterated his desire to carry out the attack in support of ISIS and discussed planning for the attack, including identifying rental properties near the first target and paying a human smuggler to help him reach and cross the border from Canada into the United States. In one communication, Khan noted that “if we are successful with our plan, this would be the largest attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.”
Around September 4, as Khan said he would in connection with his attack, he attempted to reach the U.S.-Canada border. To do so, he used three separate vehicles to cross from Canada into the United States before being arrested in Ormstown, Canada, not far from the U.S.-Canada border. Muhammad Shahzeb Khan is charged with one count of “attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.” If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
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