Pakistani Pleads Guilty to Terror Plot on NYC Jewish Center

A 21-year-old Pakistani national on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a terrorism charge after planning to target a Jewish center in New York City, an attack inspired by the Islamic State group.

Muhammad Shahzeb Khan entered the plea in Manhattan federal court to one count of attempting to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Khan’s sentencing is set for Aug. 12.

His guilty plea came about 18 months after he was brought to the United States from Canada, where he was arrested Sept. 4, 2024, in or near Ormstown, Quebec, about 12 miles from the New York state border.

Khan had been living in Mississauga, Ontario, and came to Canada in June 2023 on a study permit.

According to court records, which identified the target only as "Location 1," Khan told an undercover law enforcement officer that he planned to slaughter "as many Jewish civilians as possible" at a Jewish religious center to mark the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack in southern Israel.

He described the site as a place where "the most any Jews gather anywhere" and called it "the ultra orthodox hasidic jews world headquarters" and "the largest in the world."

"Muhammad Khan planned to carry out a horrendous attack on a venerated Jewish center in New York City in support of ISIS," Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a news release.

"Thanks to the work of our law enforcement partners at the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force of the FBI, Khan’s plan was disrupted before he reached the United States.

"Today’s guilty plea makes unequivocally clear: terrorism and other hate-based violence have zero place in New York City.

"We will continue to ensure the safety of religious groups who have the fundamental right to gather peaceably and without fear of harm."

"That’s what New Yorkers want and that’s the American way," Clayton said.

Khan intended to use automatic and semi-automatic weapons in a mass shooting at the Jewish center, prosecutors said.

He began posting on social media and communicating with others on an encrypted messaging app about his support for ISIS around November 2023.

Among other things, he distributed ISIS propaganda videos and literature.

He later began communicating with two undercover officers.

During those conversations, Khan confirmed he and a U.S.-based ISIS supporter were planning to attack an undisclosed city.

He said he was attempting to create "a real offline cell" of ISIS supporters for a "coordinated assault" using AR-style rifles to "target Israeli Jewish chabads scattered all around [the city]."

During subsequent conversations, Khan repeatedly instructed the undercover officers to obtain AR-style rifles, ammunition, and other materials, and identified specific locations where the attacks would take place.

He also provided details about how he would cross the border from Canada into the United States.

Around Aug. 20, 2024, prosecutors said Khan changed his target to New York.

After initially suggesting certain neighborhoods, he decided to target the Jewish center.

According to court documents, Khan boasted that "New York is perfect to target Jews" because it has the "largest Jewish population in America" and therefore, "even if we don’t attack an event, we could rack up easily a lot of Jews."

Khan also said, "We are going to NYC to slaughter them," and sent a photograph of the specific area inside the center where he planned to carry out the attack.

He also discussed paying a human smuggler to help him cross into the United States.

"Khan planned to illegally enter the United States and conduct an ISIS-inspired attack on the Jewish community around the one-year anniversary of the attacks in Israel by Hamas," acting Assistant Director Coult Markovsky of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division said in the release.

"With this guilty plea, he will now face the consequences of planning a mass shooting in New York City that might have killed or injured many people." Markovsky said.