Authorities said the individual chose Oct. 7 as the date for launching the attack, the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel.
A Pakistani national residing in Canada was arrested on Sept. 4 and charged with plotting an attack in connection with the terrorist organization ISIS.
Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, “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,” said a Sept. 6 press release.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said, “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.” Oct. 7 is the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ attack against Israel.
Khan, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, was arrested in Canada and charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to ISIS. If convicted, he faces a maximum prison term of 20 years.
Around November last year, Khan began posting his support for ISIS on social media and communicating with others on an encrypted messaging application, the press release said. He allegedly distributed ISIS propaganda videos and literature. Khan eventually came into contact with two undercover law enforcement officers to whom he allegedly revealed his plans.
The DOJ said Khan initially planned to attack “City-1” together with a U.S.-based ISIS supporter. He claimed to have actively attempted to create a “real offline cell” of ISIS supporters to attack the city’s “Israeli Jewish chabads,” the DOJ said. In his communications, Khan asked the undercover officers to obtain AR-style assault rifles, ammunition, and other materials required to carry out the attack, while providing details on how he would cross into the United States.
“Khan emphasized 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,’” the release stated.
He later settled on Oct. 7 and changed the location to a Jewish center located in Brooklyn, New York.
