Monday, June 16, 2025
Anti-Jewish Terror Suspect Appears in NY Federal Court
While 26 Federal Plaza has received a lot of attention recently for the raucous pro-migrant, anti-ICE protests that have occurred outside the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building, there's a lot more going on inside that edifice than just Immigration Court.
The Southern District of New York (SDNY) Criminal Division has its offices there, as do the FBI, and the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Thanks to the collaborative efforts of these groups, alleged terror suspect Muhammad Shahzeb Khan was arraigned in federal court on Thursday June 13, 2025. Khan, an alleged supporter of ISIS, is accused of plotting a mass shooting against a Jewish center in Brooklyn, pled not guilty to two charges:
1. Attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization
2. Attempting to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries
Khan faces life in prison if convicted and remains in federal custody.
Asked why a planned attack in Brooklyn was being prosecuted in Manhattan federal court, a SDNY spokesperson declined comment.
Khan, a 20-year-old citizen of Pakistan, was extradited from Canada earlier in the week. Khan was arrested by Royal Canadian Mounted Police on September 4, 2024, in Ormstown, Quebec, around twelve miles from the New York border, while he attempted to be smuggled into the United States.
Khan arrived in Canada in June 2023 on a government study permit. By that November, it's alleged that Khan began communicating on social media and in encrypted private messages, his support for ISIS. After this, Khan began sharing with undercover law enforcement officers [UCs] a plan that he and a U.S.-based associate had to attack "Israeli Jewish Chabads" with AR-style assault weapons.
By August 2024, Khan had narrowed his target to a religious center in Brooklyn, with a go date of around October 7, 2024—the one-year anniversary of Hamas' attack against Israel.
"New york is perfect to target Jews" Khan is alleged to have told the under cover agents because it has the "largest Jewish population in America," adding "we are going to nyc to slaughter them."
At the same time he was plotting against New York Jews, Khan was also seeking refugee status in Canada as a gay male, according to Fazal Qadeer, a Mississauga, Ontario-based immigration consultant. In Pakistan, same-sex relations are illegal.
"The foreign terrorist organization ISIS remains a clear and present danger to the American people, and our Jewish citizens are especially targeted by evil groups like these," said US Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
"Muhammad Shahzeb Khan has been brought to the United States to face justice for his barbaric plot to conduct a mass shooting in New York City," said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia.
"Muhammad Shahzeb Khan—a supporter of ISIS and fueled by antisemitism—allegedly plotted a terrorist attack that could have slaughtered Jewish New Yorkers simply because of their faith," said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. "Thanks to the proactive work of the NYPD, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney's Office, that plot was stopped before it could become a tragedy."
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