Man arrested for ISIS-inspired terror plot to focus on Jewish individuals in New York City | EUROtoday

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A person has been arrested in Canada over an ISIS-inspired terrorist plot to focus on a Jewish middle in New York City, U.S. federal officers introduced on Friday.

Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, often known as Shazeb Jadoon, allegedly needed to hold out a mass capturing to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7.

The Justice Department described Khan as a Pakistani nationwide.

“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 Garland mentioned.

“Jewish communities — like all communities in this country — should not have to fear that they will be targeted by a hate-fueled terrorist attack.”

Khan was arrested on September 4 in Canada, the Justice Department mentioned. He was captured within the city of Ormstown.

Ormstown resident Elizabeth Henshaw instructed Radio-Canada she got here dwelling Wednesday to see a handcuffed man being detained on her entrance garden, in addition to a girl in handcuffs close by.

“[The police] said it was confidential and they couldn’t tell me what was going on,” she mentioned.

Three others have been detained as a part of the plot, sources instructed the CBC. The particular person was described by the outlet as a Toronto-area man.

The alleged plotter started speaking on social media in late 2023 about his assist for ISIS with somebody who was a confidential supply for the FBI, in keeping with U.S. officers.

In the following months, the 20-year-old instructed a pair of undercover brokers about his objectives to create an “offline cell” of ISIS supporters able to finishing up a “coordinated assault” on “Israeli Jewish chabads,” a reference to a department of the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood.

Khan allegedly instructed the brokers to buy AR 15-style rifles and different army gear for the plan, which might be used for a simultaneous assault throughout a number of websites.

The plot initially focused a distinct metropolis however later shifted focus to New York as a result of it’s dwelling to the biggest Jewish inhabitants within the nation, with Khan allegedly describing the situation as “perfect to target jews.”

“we are going to nyc to slaughter them,” Khan instructed the undercovers, in keeping with the legal criticism in opposition to him.

In these conversations, the alleged plotter additionally expressed his needs to die as a “martyr” and made hateful remarks about Israelis, saying the concept of an Israeli civilian was like “halal pork.”

The alleged plotter sought to hold out the assault between October 7 and October 11, the start of the Jewish excessive vacation of Yom Kippur, in keeping with the DOJ.

In early September, Khan allegedly started shifting from the Toronto space in a sequence of various vehicles in direction of Ormstown, a city 12 miles from the border.

Khan is charged within the U.S. with one rely of trying to offer materials assist and assets to a chosen overseas terrorist group. If convicted, he might face 20 years in jail.

The 20-year-old can also be charged with a number of offenses in Canada.

Intelligence consultants mentioned the alleged plot underscored the continued hazard of ISIS, regardless of its defeat as a large-scale army and political pressure.

“ISIS has not lost its ability to recruit online,” Michel Juneau-Katsuya, former senior intelligence officer for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, told CBC News. “They are capable to sort of foster recruitment, radicalization. And people turn into extremists in the privacy of their home, and when they manifest themselves, it’s usually just before they go into action.”