A man has been arrested and charged for allegedly plotting to carry out a mass shooting attack at a Jewish centre in New York on the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas terror attack in Israel.
Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, also known as Shazeb Jadoon, tried to enter the United States to carry out a terror attack in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), law enforcement officials said.
The 20-year-old Pakistan national was arrested in Canada, where he was residing, on September 4 after an FBI investigation, supported by Canadian law enforcement.
He was charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organisation.
"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," US Attorney-General Merrick Garland said.
"Jewish communities — like all communities in this country — should not have to fear that they will be targeted by a hate-fuelled terrorist attack."
"The defendant was allegedly determined to kill Jewish people here in the United States, nearly one year after Hamas' horrific attack on Israel," FBI director Christopher Wray said.
It is alleged Mr Khan intended to use automatic and semi-automatic weapons to carry out a mass shooting in support of ISIS at a Jewish centre in Brooklyn, New York.
He began posting on social media and communicating with others on an encrypted messaging application about his support for ISIS around November 2023.
But Mr Khan subsequently began communicating with two undercover law enforcement officers and, during these conversations, he allegedly told of plans made by him and a US-based ISIS supporter.
Mr Khan is alleged to have instructed the undercover officers to obtain AR-style assault rifles, ammunition, and other materials to carry out the attacks and told them that "October 7th and October 11th are the best days for targeting the Jews" because "October 7 they will surely have some protests and October 11 is yom.kippur".
He recognised the date of the planned attack as the one-year anniversary of Hamas' attacks in Israel and said he had chosen New York because of the large Jewish population.
Police alleged that during one conversation, Mr Khan stated: "If we succeed with our plan this would be the largest attack on US soil since 9/11."
On September 4, Mr Khan attempted to reach the US-Canada border.
He reportedly used three separate cars to travel across Canada towards the United States, before he was stopped in or around Ormstown — about 19 kilometres from the US-Canada border.
If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
