Toronto (September 9, 2024) - Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) is deeply disturbed by an alleged attempt by a Toronto-area man to illegally enter the US to commit a mass shooting at a Jewish centre in New York City.

News releases issued Friday by the RCMP and US Department of Justice identified the accused in the case as Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, a 20-year-old Pakistani citizen residing in Canada, who investigators say also goes by Shahzeb Jadoon. He was arrested on Wednesday in Ormstown, Quebec, about 60 kilometres south of Montreal.

"The defendant is alleged to have planned a terrorist attack in New York City around October 7 of this year with the stated goal of slaughtering, in the name of ISIS, as many Jewish people as possible," said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement from the US Department of Justice.

Khan now faces three charges in Canada: Attempting to leave Canada to commit an offence for a terrorist group; participating in the activities of a terrorist group; and conspiracy to commit an offence by violating US immigration law – entering or attempting to enter the US unlawfully. He also faces a charge in the US of attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, namely ISIS.

Based on information gleaned from conversations between the accused and two undercover officers, American authorities allege Khan intended to use automatic and semi-automatic weapons to carry out a mass shooting in support of ISIS at a Jewish Centre in New York on the first anniversary of the atrocities Hamas carried out in southern Israel or a few days later on Yom Kippur.

"Just weeks after learning of a father and son accused of planning a terror attack in Toronto, we are learning of yet another disturbing terror plot that took place on Canadian soil," said FSWC President and CEO Michael Levitt. "We are seeing a dangerous trend of increased terrorist activity in this country, which is heightening safety concerns in the Jewish community at a time when it is already dealing with antisemitic attacks on its schools, synagogues and community centres. Alarmingly, this latest incident once again raises questions about the rigorousness of our immigration process and vetting protocols. These questions must be answered by our government leaders and law enforcement before a tragedy occurs in Canada."

FSWC is calling on the federal government to provide a full accounting of how this individual was allowed to enter Canada and what changes will be made to the immigration vetting procedures to ensure that extremists can't enter the country and endanger Canadian lives.

RCMP briefed FSWC about this case. We are thankful for their diligence in ensuring the arrest of this individual before any harm was caused to Jews at his purported target or to anyone else.

In a statement released by RCMP, they said, "The news of threats to the Jewish community is alarming. 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."

‍