Man arrested for ISIS-inspired plot to 'slaughter' Jews in NYC: Prosecutors
A Pakistani national in Canada plotted to slaughter as many Jewish people as possible before he was charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS, federal prosecutors said on Friday.
Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, was arrested this week in Canada, where he planned to travel to New York to carry out a mass shooting at a Jewish center in Brooklyn, according to the criminal complaint.
Khan began posting on social media and communicating on an encrypted messaging app about his support for ISIS last November, the complaint said. He then began communicating with two undercover law enforcement officers, allegedly telling them about a "coordinated assault" using AR-style rifles to "target Israeli Jewish chabads."
Khan allegedly told the undercovers Oct. 7 and Oct. 11 "are the best days for targeting Jews." Oct. 7 marks the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel and Oct. 11 is Yom Kippur, which is the holiest day of the year in Judaism.
Khan boasted that "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," and sent a photograph of the specific area inside of a location where he planned to carry out the attack, according to the criminal complaint.
"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 announcing the charges.
"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.
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.
