A Pakistani citizen residing in Canada faces a federal charge for a plan to attack a New York City Jewish center on or around Oct. 7 in support of the Islamic State group, prosecutors said Friday.
Authorities alleged the suspect zeroed in on Oct. 7 as the one year anniversary of Hamas’ terrorist attack, in which over 1,200 were killed and about 250 taken hostage.
He also considered Oct. 11, because it is Yom Kippur, the holiest religious holiday in Judaism, prosecutors 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,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.
The Oct. 7 terrorist attack sparked Israel’s ongoing war on Hamas in Gaza. More than 40,000 people have been killed in Israel’s military offensive, according to the Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza.
Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, was stopped and ultimately taken into custody Wednesday 12 miles from the U.S-Canada border while traveling from Toronto to New York City, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said in the same statement.
Garland credited the FBI and Canadian authorities for the arrest. It appears Khan first drew the attention of law enforcement late last year when he distributed pro-Islamic State group propaganda, including videos, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Two undercover officers had been communicating with the suspect, alleging that he told them via encrypted messages, “New york is perfect to target jews” because it has the “largest Jewish population In america,” according to the federal criminal complaint against him, unsealed on Friday.
“We are going to nyc to slaughter them,” Khan is alleged to have written, according to the complaint.
He has been charged with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization. It’s unclear if he had any real ties to the group. The charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
It’s unclear of Khan, who is also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, has obtained legal counsel, and the office of the Federal Defenders of New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
The defendant is alleged by the FBI to have told the undercover officers that he intended to form an Islamic State group cell in North America to execute an attack on Jews in the United States, according to the criminal complaint.
He asked the undercover officers for help obtaining semiautomatic rifles in the style of the AR-15 so he could carry out mass shootings on Jewish locations such as Chabad locations, according to the filing and its supporting affidavit by an FBI special agent.
Khan used encrypted messaging to tell the undercover officers he also wanted them to help procure “some good hunting [knives] so we can slit their throats,” according to the filing.
He had an unidentified city in mind, according to the filing, but eventually focused on New York City because it has a large Jewish population.
Khan allegedly instructed the undercover officers, believing they were conspirators, on how to help. He obtained a credit card with the purpose of purchasing items needed for the attack, and said he would hire a smuggler to take him across the U.S.-Canada border, the complaint alleged.
It’s not clear if a smuggler was with Khan when he was arrested Wednesday in Ormstown, Canada.
Garland promised federal authorities would continue to seek justice for such alleged plots.
“Jewish communities – like all communities in this country – should not have to fear that they will be targeted by a hate-fueled terrorist attack,” he said in Friday’s statement.
Jonathan Dienst, Tom Winter and Michael Kosnar contributed.