A Pakistani citizen from Ontario who was arrested in Quebec on charges of plotting to murder Jews in New York City returns to court on Friday.
The authorities in the United States are seeking to bring Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, who has been imprisoned since his arrest on September 4 in Ormstown, Que., to trial.
US officials charged Khan with attempting to provide material support and resources to a terrorist organization, and Canada agreed to extradite him.
An extradition hearing is expected to be scheduled today in Montreal at the Superior Court of Quebec.
American and Canadian authorities claim that Khan was on his way to carry out a mass shooting in support of ISIS at a Jewish center in Brooklyn on October 7, approximately on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel.
During a hearing in December, a Quebec judge said the case needed to be dealt with quickly.
Khan (20 years old) was previously detained in Rimouski, Que., hundreds of kilometers from Montreal, but his lawyer requested that he be transferred to the Montreal area due to the difficulty of communicating remotely with his client, who does not speak French.
Before his arrest, Khan was living in Mississauga, Ontario, according to court documents, and federal Immigration Minister Mark Miller said the accused arrived in Canada in June 2023 on a student visa granted in May of that year.
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According to documents filed by the U.S. Attorney summarizing the case against Khan, the FBI became aware of Khan after a paid informant noticed his pro-ISIS thoughts on Facebook in October 2023. On October 8 of that year, a post from “And Transfer” appeared. Shahzeb Gideon” about a supporter of the Saudi jihad, and later that month, the same user posted a photo of a disassembled weapon and called for unity among Muslims.
Following a post in November 2023, the informant began chatting with Jadon, who he said was a Pakistani national living in Canada.
They moved their online conversations to an encrypted platform – unnamed in US court documents – after Khan expressed concerns about FBI identification. He allegedly sent the informant a number of ISIS videos and a PDF e-book containing a detailed history of the terrorist group.
Khan allegedly wrote: “This book is very useful.” “Reading the book gives me an adrenaline rush.”
Khan was not aware that his discussions with the informant on the encrypted network were documented and under FBI supervision.
Authorities later determined that the person in control of the account was Khan, and on March 21, 2024, provided the RCMP with Ontario IP addresses, social media accounts, and a Pakistani phone number, all linked to the suspect. In August, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police informed US authorities that they had identified Khan and opened a criminal investigation into him.
US officials found that Khan was participating in a pro-ISIS group chat that discussed how to carry out coordinated attacks in the United States, Pakistan and India, among other regions. Two undercover officers were part of that chat, posing as fellow travelers.
In July 2024, Khan allegedly began discussing creating a “real offline cell” of ISIS supporters and told an undercover agent that he had “already begun plans to carry out an attack” against “Zionist Jews.” Over the next days, he began developing his plan to carry out a mass shooting using AR-style rifles.
After RCMP foiled an alleged ISIS-inspired father-son murder plot in Toronto, Khan allegedly told members of the chat group that they needed to “stay off social media” and that the cell “should be small and well-armed.”
Ahmed Fouad Mustafa Al-Didi, 62, and his son Mustafa Al-Didi, 26, were arrested in Richmond Hill, Ontario, on July 28, 2024, and face nine terrorism charges, including conspiracy to commit murder on behalf of the Islamic State terrorist group. Iraq and the Levant.
But after the two arrests, Khan continued with his plan, and was recorded encouraging people in the chat group to buy AR-style rifles, ammunition, magazines, holsters, shoes and other items needed for the “kits.”
By mid-August, Khan told the agent that he was preparing to vacate his apartment and begin his journey to the United States, having organized a trip with a human smuggler. On August 21, he decided that New York City, which had a large Jewish population, would be his target.
“Brothers… we are going to New York City to slaughter them,” Khan wrote.
Khan got into a car in Toronto at about 5:40 a.m. on September 4 and switched cars in Nappanee, Ontario, and Montreal before he was arrested about 2:45 p.m. in Ormstown.
Khan’s lawyer in Canada said that the case against his client amounts to a trap.
& Edition 2025 The Canadian Press
