Man Charged With Planning Shooting At Jewish Center On Anniversary Of Hamas Attack : NPR

NEW YORK (AP) — A Pakistani man was arrested in Canada this week on charges he planned a mass shooting at a Brooklyn Jewish center on the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the latest Middle East conflict, federal authorities said Friday.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Muhammad Shahzeb Khan had tried to travel from Canada, where he lives, to New York with “the stated goal of massacring, on behalf of ISIS, as many Jews as possible.”

The 20-year-old, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, was arrested on September 4 and charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to the terrorist group, which represents the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

“As I expressed to Canada’s Minister of Public Safety yesterday, we are deeply grateful to our Canadian partners for their critical policing efforts in this matter,” Garland said in a statement. “Jewish communities, like all communities in this country, should not have to fear being targeted by a hate-motivated terrorist attack.”

It is unclear whether Khan has a lawyer. The case is not listed in the online federal court system. Edward Kim, a spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, which is handling the case, declined to answer follow-up questions, including where Khan is being held and when he will be brought to the United States to face charges. He referred the matter to Canadian authorities, who did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

U.S. authorities said Khan began sharing ISIS propaganda videos and expressing support for the terrorist group in social media posts and communications with others on an encrypted messaging app last November.

In conversations with two undercover law enforcement officers, he confirmed that he and another U.S.-based ISIS supporter planned to carry out attacks on Jewish centers in America and needed to obtain AR-style assault rifles, ammunition and other materials, according to the Justice Department.

Khan also provided details about how he would cross the border from Canada into the United States and indicated he planned to carry out the attacks either on the Oct. 7 anniversary or on Oct. 11, which is the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, authorities said.

On Aug. 20, he told undercover agents that he had decided to target New York City because of its large Jewish population and sent a photograph of the specific area inside a Jewish center where he planned to carry out the attack, according to the Justice Department.

Using three separate vehicles, Khan began driving toward the United States but was stopped around Ormstown, a town in the Canadian province of Quebec about 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the U.S. border, federal authorities said.