RCMP and FBI say man arrested in Ormstown planned attack on Jewish centre in NYC

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A 20-year-old Pakistani national whom the RCMP and the FBI believe was planning a deadly attack on behalf of ISIS targeting a Jewish centre in New York City was arrested Wednesday in Ormstown.

Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, was arrested in the small town about 20 kilometres north of the U.S. border.  He is to be arraigned in Superior Court in Montreal on Sept. 13. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York plans to seek extradition of Khan from Canada.

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In a statement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Khan, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, was the subject of a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York charging him with “attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).”

Khan lived in Canada, the statement said, and was attempting to travel to New York “where he intended to use automatic and semi-automatic weapons to carry out a mass shooting in support of ISIS at a Jewish centre in Brooklyn.”

U.S. authorities said Khan began sharing ISIS propaganda videos and expressing his support for the terror 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 said he was trying start a “real offline cell” of ISIS in order to carry out attacks against “Israeli Jewish chabads” in America. Khan said he and another ISIS supporter based in the U.S. needed to obtain AR-style assault rifles, ammunition and other materials, according to the Justice Department.

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Khan also provided details about how he would cross the border from Canada and said he was considering conducting the attacks on either the Oct. 7 anniversary or on Oct. 11, which is the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, authorities said.

On Aug. 20, he told the undercover officers that he had settled on targeting New York because of its sizeable Jewish population and sent a photograph of the specific area inside a Jewish centre where he planned to carry out the attack, according to the Justice Department.

His online messages described the Brooklyn site, which is not named in court documents, as “the ultra orthodox Hasidic Jews world headquarters,” according to authorities.

Khan began making his way to the U.S. using three separate vehicles that included other drivers and passengers before he was stopped around Ormstown.

In a statement released Friday afternoon, the Central Region of the RCMP (Ontario) said: “With the strong partnership between Canada and the U.S., we can reassure the public that as his actions escalated, at no point in time was Khan an immediate threat prior to his arrest.”

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The RCMP said Khan was arrested pursuant to Section 495 of the Criminal Code for attempting to leave Canada to commit an offence for a terrorist group, participating in activities of a terrorist group, conspiracy to commit an offence by violating U.S. immigration law by entering or attempting to enter the U.S. illegally. He was later re-arrested under a provisional arrest warrant pursuant to the Extradition Act.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “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.”

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said the defendant had “the goal of slaughtering as many Jewish people as possible.

“Thanks to the investigative work of the FBI, and the quick action of our Canadian law enforcement partners, the defendant was taken into custody.”

“The news of threats to the Jewish community is alarming.,” the RCMP statement said. “We will not tolerate any form of threats, harassment or violence targeting Jewish communities. The RCMP continues to work in collaboration with our domestic and international partners to detect, investigate and disrupt criminal acts that are targeting Jewish communities.”

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The Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams (INSETs), made up of representatives of the RCMP, municipal and provincial police forces as well as federal and provincial partners and agencies, was involved in the investigation. INSET collects, shares, and analyzes information that concerns threats to national security and criminal extremism and/or terrorism.

The RCMP, in partnership with the FBI, had been investigating Khan for an unspecified period.

The RCMP thanked the FBI, the United States Department of Justice, the Peel Regional Police, the Ontario Provincial Police, Public Prosecution Service Canada, Canada Border Services Agency, Department of Justice Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, as well as the Ministry of the Attorney General and the Eastern Region RCMP,  all of whom “were all instrumental in the successful apprehension of Khan.”

“Violent extremism in all its forms is on the rise around the world and Canada is not immune,” said RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme. “This planned anti-Semitic attack against Jewish people in the U.S. is deplorable and there is no place for such ideological and hate motivated crime in Canada. We are committed to keeping all Canadians safe and ask for the support of all Canadians to help prevent such threats.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

mlalonde@postmedia.com

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