Former FBI chief explains how what could have been the largest terror attack on US soil since 9/11 was averted

The  accused, a Pakistani Muslim identified as Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, is alleged to have planned a terrorist attack in New York City around October 7^th of this year with the stated goal of slaughtering, in the name of ISIS, as many Jewish people as possible.

In support of his choice of New York City as his target location, 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 a special event, we could rack up easily a lot of jews.” 

🚨BREAKING: Illegal Immigrant Caught Planning “The Largest Terror Attack on U.S. Soil Since 9/11” ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/zJjUWuLoLm

— Matt Wallace (@MattWallace888) September 7, 2024

h/t Nita

Justice Khan, a Pakistani national residing in Canada, began posting on social media and communicating with others on an encrypted messaging application about his support for ISIS in or about November 2023, when, among other things, Khan distributed ISIS propaganda videos and literature.  

Subsequently, Khan began communicating with two undercover law enforcement officers.  During those conversations, Khan confirmed that he and a U.S.-based ISIS associate had been planning to carry out an attack in  New York City.  Among other things, Khan said that he had been actively attempting to create “a real offline cell” of ISIS supporters to carry out a “coordinated assault” in the city using AR-style assault rifles to “target Jewish centers/synagogues . . . scattered all around the city.”Khan emphasized that “Oct 7th and oct 11th are the best days for targeting the jews” because on “Oct 7th (anniversary of Hamas massacre in Israel), they will surely have some protests and Oct 11th is the Jewish holy day of Yom Kiippur” when Jews fill synagogues.

Mike Harrigan, the former chief of the FBI’s firearms training program joined LiveNOW from FOX’s Josh Breslow to discuss the case.