ISIS inspired to attack NYC Jewish Center, a Pakistani national enters surprising plea

A Pakistani national charged with plotting an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack on a Jewish center in New York City pleaded guilty on Wednesday, federal prosecutors said.

Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, a 21-year-old Pakistani citizen living in Canada, pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Khan was arrested while attempting to illegally enter the United States through the northern border. He planned to inflict significant casualties, according to the Department of Justice. “Khan planned a mass shooting at a Jewish center in New York City, timed to coincide with the anniversary of the October 7th Hamas attacks, with the explicit goal of killing as many Jews as possible,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said.

Khan considered Brooklyn’s large Jewish population as the “perfect” venue for his attack, authorities said, and claimed his plan could have resulted in the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil since September 11.

“Muhammad Shahzeb Khan intended to come to New York City and carry out an ISIS-inspired act of terror against our city’s Jewish community,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said. “The NYPD, in close coordination with our federal partners, was able to stop this dangerous plot before it could become a devastating attack.”

Investigators began tracking Khan in November 2023 after he posted ISIS propaganda videos on social media and openly expressed support for the terror group, according to authorities. Prosecutors said Khan began plotting terrorist attacks in the United States, sharing specific details with two individuals he didn’t know were undercover law enforcement officers. During those exchanges, Khan told an undercover officer he had a U.S.-based associate and planned to use AR-style assault rifles in an unidentified city to “target Israeli Jewish chabads,” prosecutors said.

About a year later, authorities say Khan shifted his focus to a Jewish religious center in Brooklyn, hoping to carry out his attack around the first anniversary of the Hamas-led October 7 terror attacks against Israel.

On social media, Khan encouraged what he believed were co-conspirators to acquire AR-style rifles and hunting knives to “slit their throats.”

A month before the planned attack, Khan attempted to cross the U.S.-Canada border with the help of a human smuggler. Authorities arrested Khan near Ormstown, Canada, approximately 12 miles from the border.

Khan is set to be sentenced on August 12.

This case is a stark reminder of the persistent threat posed by Islamist extremism, even in its apparently foiled manifestations. A young man, radicalized through the familiar channels of online propaganda, crossed borders and oceans in his mind, if not yet fully in body, to pursue the murder of Jews in the very heart of a great American city. The target was not random. It was chosen with precision, timed with malice to mark the anniversary of the October 7 massacre, and animated by the explicit desire to kill as many Jews as possible. That such hatred finds fertile ground among certain communities, and that it can travel so easily across continents, should trouble anyone who still believes that integration and modernity have tamed the older, darker impulses of religious totalitarianism. The authorities acted swiftly and effectively here. Yet the plot itself reveals once again how the ideology of jihad, with its insatiable appetite for Jewish blood, continues to seek new theaters in the West, undeterred by distance, law, or the decency of the societies it seeks to wound.

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Texas Man Arrested for Allegedly Trying to Arm ISIS With Bomb Materials – And the Feds Nailed Him Cold

Look, in an era where the threats from radical Islamic terrorism never really went away, despite what some politicians tried to tell us, it's refreshing to see federal law enforcement actually doing their job and stopping a plot before it turns into another bloody headline.

A 21-year-old from Midlothian, Texas, named John Michael Garza Jr., got himself arrested on December 22 after he allegedly handed over bomb-making components, cash, and detailed instructions to undercover agents he thought were his ISIS "brothers." Federal authorities dropped the hammer, charging him with attempting to provide material support to the terrorist group.

The whole thing started back in mid-October 2025 when an undercover NYPD employee spotted Garza's social media account liking and sharing pro-ISIS garbage. Turns out, the guy was following extremist accounts and diving headfirst into their content. 

When the undercover reached out, Garza proudly described himself as a 21-year-old Mexican-American living in Texas.

Over the next two months, he allegedly sent official ISIS propaganda, including videos of suicide bombings and bomb-making tutorials, plus small crypto transfers he believed would buy guns and fund operations.

The sting peaked when Garza met an undercover FBI agent, handed over explosive precursors, and explained how to mix them into a shrapnel bomb, even suggesting nails to maximize the carnage. One example of the ISIS media he shared: a photo of a masked individual and another man in a gated area.

The evidence laid out in the complaint is damning: Crypto transfers to fund what he thought were ISIS weapons and missions and sharing official ISIS videos of bombings and bomb-building guides.

Physically delivering bomb components and shrapnel instructions on December 22.Garza appeared in court on December 23, with a detention hearing set for December 30 in the Northern District of Texas. If convicted, he's looking at up to 20 years in federal prison. 

"This case is a testament to the incredible work of our federal agents, who work tirelessly to save American lives," said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. "ISIS's poisonous ideology must be ripped out root and stem, anyone who tries to commit violence on ISIS's behalf will be found, arrested, and prosecuted. You cannot hide from us."

"[Monday's] announcement underscores the FBI's commitment to combatting terrorism and demonstrates our continuous work to disrupt and thwart terrorist plots against the American public," said FBI Director Kash Patel. "Let this serve as a warning to those who plan to conduct attacks against the United States on behalf of terrorist organizations, you will be brought to justice."

"The increasing threats of harm and destruction in our country made by those aligned with violent ideologies must be stopped," said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas. "An alleged ISIS sympathizer has been federally charged with an international terrorism. This operation is but one example highlighting the necessity of vigilant observation and swift action to halt what could have been a devastating outcome. Together with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to take prompt action against those attempting to carry out alleged terrorist missions."

"The FBI worked alongside our law enforcement partners to quickly arrest an individual who intended to provide bomb-making materials to a foreign terrorist organization," said Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock of FBI Dallas. "Protecting the Homeland is a top priority for the FBI. This arrest demonstrates our commitment to safeguarding our communities from terrorism."

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"[Monday's] charges illustrate that the threats of terrorism and extremist violence against our nation are still very real," said Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch of the New York Police Department (NYPD). "The NYPD remains committed to identifying, disrupting, and dismantling these networks at their source, before they can reach their murderous ends. And any person who puts American lives at risk will face justice and be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. I want to thank our undercover investigators in the NYPD, as well as our law enforcement partners in the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office, for their exceptional work on this case."

This is exactly the kind of proactive work that keeps ISIS wannabes from turning their sick fantasies into reality. In a sane world, we'd see more of this and less hand-wringing about "root causes." The ideology is the problem, and ripping it out, as Bondi put it, is the only solution.

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