RCMP feared they'd have to release ISIS suspect linked to Jewish centre plot, documents show
CBC
The RCMP feared they didn't have enough evidence to keep an alleged ISIS supporter in custody after his dramatic arrest in a small Quebec town near the U.S. border earlier this month, according to newly obtained court records.
And if he were released, police suspected Muhammad Shazheb Khan would still go on to carry out his alleged mass murder plot targeting Jews in New York.
The details are contained in files released to CBC News on Monday by Quebec Superior Court in Montreal. The documents shed new light on the process behind the scenes as Canadian authorities detained the 20-year-old Pakistani citizen on a U.S. terrorism charge.
"The RCMP had grounds to arrest Khan on the information provided by the U.S. but they do not have enough evidence to keep Khan in custody," Det.-Const. Charlene Smith of the Toronto Police Fugitive Squad said in a sworn affidavit on Sept. 4, the day of Khan's arrest in Ormstown, Que.
The affidavit was filed in Ontario Superior Court in Toronto, as police sought to have Khan re-arrested to be extradited to the U.S., to face a charge of attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, ISIS.
While court records list a Mississauga address as Khan's residence, CBC News visited the location and found the unit is an office housing an immigration firm. Khan is currently being held in a provincial jail in Montreal.
"If Khan is released, the RCMP do not know if he will continue on to the U.S. to commit the offences set out in this request," Smith said.
Smith said Khan would be a "flight risk" if he's released, since he has "no ties to Canada and has family in Pakistan."
Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller revealed last week that Khan arrived in Canada in June 2023 on a student visa.
"If Khan were to flee to Pakistan, the United States would have limited ability to arrest and extradite him because, although there is an extradition treaty between the two countries, Pakistan is not a cooperative partner in extradition," the Toronto detective said in the court filing.
Canadian authorities arrested Khan after receiving information from their American counterparts that said he was involved in a plot to shoot Orthodox Jews at an unspecified location in Brooklyn. The attack was set for Oct. 7, the first anniversary of Hamas's offensive into Israel, the FBI alleges.
The planned attack had "the stated goal of slaughtering, in the name of ISIS, as many Jewish people as possible," U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, said in a statement at the time of Khan's arrest.
American authorities said the information about the alleged terrorist plot came from conversations between the accused and two undercover officers on an encrypted messaging app.
The court files obtained in Montreal include two pictures of Khan: a headshot taken after his arrest and an undated photo in a wooded area downloaded from Facebook.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.