NYC terror plot on Jewish center scuttled by Feds, DOJ says

A Pakistani national living in Canada has been charged with planning to cross the border into the U.S. to carry out a mass shooting at a Jewish center in New York City, federal officials said.

Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, know as Shahzeb Jadoon, was arrested earlier this week in Canada on U.S. charges of attempting to provide material support and resources to ISIS, a designated terrorist organization, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said on Friday.

The 20-year-old Khan began posting support for ISIS on social media in the weeks following Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of Israel that triggered the war, authorities said. He also began communicating with others about his support for the group via encrypted messaging, among them two undercover officers, the Southern District said.

Khan allegedly wanted to use automatic and semiautomatic weapons to carry out an attack at a Jewish center in Brooklyn in October — or around the one-year mark of the war. He told undercover officers he knew a human smuggler who would help him cross the border from Canada to the U.S., the complaint said.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Khan had obtained an attorney and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which participated in his arrest, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.S. plans to seek Khan’s extradition from Canada, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a news release.

“As alleged, Khan attempted to travel to the United States to carry out a terrorist attack and murder as many Jewish people as possible, all in support of ISIS. Khan’s alleged crimes are a vivid reminder that we must remain vigilant in the fight against antisemitism and terror,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.

Following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the FBI reported spikes in anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim threats across the country.