Muhammad Shahzeb Khan was arrested September. 4, 2024 in Ormstown and faces extradition to the United States.Supplied
A man arrested in Quebec on allegations that he was plotting an ISIS-inspired mass shooting targeting Jews in New York City had no ties to Canada apart from his student visa, according to court documents filed as police sought to arrest him and keep him in custody.
These newly released documents were first filed on Sept. 4, the same day RCMP officers arrested Muhammad Shahzeb Khan. These documents show Canadian authorities feared they could not keep the 20-year-old suspect in custody if they pursued Canadian criminal terrorism charges against him but they believed they could detain him as part of a process to extradite him to the United States to face terrorism charges there at the request of American authorities.
Mr. Khan, a Pakistani national who entered Canada last year on a student visa, and who was living near Toronto, was arrested two weeks ago in Ormstown, Que., a short drive from the U.S. border. He has been charged in the U.S. with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Legal documents filed in U.S. and Canadian courts allege he was plotting a terrorist attack on behalf of the Islamic State terrorist group to mark the anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack against Israel.
U.S. court filed documents of the arrest warrant for Muhammad Shahzeb Khan.Supplied
U.S. court documents released after his arrest allege Mr. Khan outlined his beliefs and plans on social-media posts and in encrypted chats to informants and undercover police officers in the United States. The documents allege Mr. Khan wrote that “New York is perfect to target Jews” as he described plans to acquire guns and recruit gunmen.
The documents contain unproven allegations that haven’t been tested in court. Mr. Khan’s defence lawyer, Gaétan Bourassa, says evidence has yet to be released to him and that he is not prepared to comment on the case at this time.
The court documents filed in Canada say that Mr. Khan was being driven through Ormstown when he was taken into custody by Mounties, who had been independently tracking him and who tipped American authorities he was on the move.
The RCMP arrested Mr. Khan on allegations that he was trying to leave Canada for the purpose of committing an offence for a terrorist group and conspiring to violate the immigration laws of the United States. But the suspect was never formally charged for these offences in Canada.
“The RCMP has grounds to arrest Khan” but “they do not have enough evidence to keep Mr. Khan in custody,” Toronto Police Detective Constable Charlene Smith wrote in an affidavit.
Mr. Khan “is a flight risk,” Det. Smith said, adding that the suspect “has no ties to Canada and his family is in Pakistan.”
Det. Smith does not explain why police believed Mr. Khan could be released from arrest if authorities pursued Canadian charges. But her statement says police feared the suspect could take another run at the U.S. border if he was let go.
The documents were filed as part of an effort to persuade a Canadian judge to let police re-arrest Mr. Khan later that same day, this time under a provisional arrest power arising from the Extradition Act.
Such procedures take co-ordination. U.S. officials also filed documents in their courts on Sept. 4 in support of the bid to urgently extradite Mr. Khan on American charges. “Although we understand that Canadian law enforcement is attempting to gather more evidence related to their arrest, Khan will be released shortly if those efforts are not fruitful,” reads one U.S. Department of Justice statement of the facts, now also filed in Quebec Superior Court.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Maureen Forestell issued the extradition arrest warrant on Sept. 4.
Mr. Khan made a brief court appearance last week and will remain jailed in Montreal until hearings begin in the winter.
The Canadian court documents describe him as living in Mississauga, west of Toronto.
However, the address listed in the documents appears to be an immigration consultancy and not a residence. On Tuesday, a man who answered the phone there said he did not know of Mr. Khan.