US officials have charged a Pakistani-Canadian resident for plotting a mass shooting at a Jewish Centre in New York on Hamas's October 7 attack anniversary.
According to The Washington Post, the Justice Department announced the arrest of 20-year-old Muhammad Shahzeb Khan on Friday, September 6.
The Pakistani citizen was arrested in Canada on Wednesday from Ormstown, Quebec, about 12 miles (19 km) from the US border over US charges of providing material support to the Islamic State, a foreign terrorist organisation, and for attempting to illegally enter the US for a terrorist attack.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement, “(Khan) 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.”
Moreover, Khan's charging document says that he allegedly told the undercover investigator that New York is the best place for mass shooting attacks as it is the Jewish majority. He also wrote, “We are going to NYC to slaughter them.”
Furthermore, the US FBI along with Canadian law enforcement agencies investigated the criminal complaint against Khan after he posted ISIS propaganda videos on an encrypted messaging app and social media in 2023.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Mike Duheme asserted that there is no place for ‘antisemitic ideologies and ‘hate-motivated crime in Canada.’
