Foiled terror plot targeted Jewish institutions in three states

Federal authorities said a terror plot aimed at Jewish institutions in New York, California and Arizona was stopped before it could be carried out, and a man linked to the alleged scheme was under arrest. Prosecutors said the Iraqi suspect was tied to other global attacks and claimed he wanted payback for the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran.

The case sits alongside a closely related federal prosecution involving Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, a Pakistani national who had been living in Canada. Authorities said Khan was arrested in Canada on Sept. 4, 2024, after he allegedly tried to travel toward New York City to carry out a mass shooting at a Jewish center in Brooklyn in support of ISIS.

Federal officials said Khan was stopped in or around Ormstown, Canada, about 12 miles from the U.S.-Canada border. Prosecutors said he planned to act around Oct. 7, 2024, the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attacks in Israel, and intended to use automatic and semi-automatic weapons to kill as many Jewish people as possible. They also said he believed New York City was the "perfect" target because of its large Jewish population.

The Justice Department said Khan was extradited from Canada to the United States on June 10, 2025. On April 8, 2026, he pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to attempting to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, and prosecutors said he is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 12, 2026.

Authorities said the plot was disrupted before Khan reached the United States, with the FBI and Canadian law enforcement credited for helping stop it. The overlapping cases have sharpened the focus on Jewish institutions as recurring targets for extremist violence, and on the border cooperation prosecutors say is now essential to stopping attacks before they move from planning to execution.