Pakistani man arrested for alleged plot against New York Jewish community

A 20-year-old Pakistani man currently residing in Canada, identified as Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, was charged with planning a terrorist attack in New York City allegedly against the Jewish community.

Khan, aka Shahzeb Jadoon, is suspected to have been plotting the attack in support of Da’esh, as per the US Department of Justice on Friday.

The plan was allegedly to carry out a mass shooting at a Jewish centre in Brooklyn around the first anniversary of October 7 in the upcoming month, almost a year after the Hamas attack in Israel, after which Israel unleashed a genocide in Gaza.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland claimed that Khan’s objective was to kill “as many Jewish people as possible.”

The Department of Justice could not confirm whether Khan had secured legal representation.

The US authorities also revealed that Khan attempted to travel from Canada to the United States to carry out the attack using automatic and semi-automatic weapons.

However, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) confirmed that Khan was arrested in Ormstown, Quebec, and is due to appear in a court in Montreal on September 13.

The charges detail that Khan disclosed his plan to form an offline Daesh support cell to two undercover law enforcement officers as he instructed them to acquire specific ammunition, rifles and other equipment for the attack. He also identified specific sites for the planned attack.

Prosecutors stated that Khan chose New York City because of its large Jewish population.

If convicted, Khan could face up to 20 years in prison.