by: Oren Segal
July 21, 2016
Mahin Khan
Court proceedings have indicated that Arizona resident Mahin Khan, arrested on July 1 for allegedly plotting to bomb a DMV on behalf of ISIS and the Pakistani Taliban, had considered directing his attack against a local Jewish Community Center (JCC) before choosing the DMV as his final target. His planning, as well as anti-Semitic statements he made, serve as a critical reminder of the nexus between anti-Semitism and Islamic extremism.
Khan had allegedly indicated his interest in attacking the JCC in an October 2015 conversation with an undercover FBI employee that was relayed in court on July 20, 2016. The criminal complaint filed against Khan also quoted him as requesting ammunition to target Jews, saying, “Need AK and pistols can u do that wanna take out marines and jews (sic).”
News reports suggest additional evidence of Khan’s anti-Semitism as well. A former classmate of his reportedly claimed that, “At one point he went as far as to say 'what Hitler did was good.’ And he told me that he did not like the Jewish people.”
- Mahin Khan is one of 18 U.S. residents linked to terrorist activity motivated by Islamic extremist ideology in 2016.
- Khan is the 22nd U.S. residents motivated by Islamic extremist ideology to plot or consider an attack against Jewish or Israeli targets since 2002.
- He is the 5th U.S. resident arrested in Arizona related to activity motivated by Islamic extremist ideology since 2002. Three additional Arizona residents have also been linked, but were killed or arrested outside the state.
- Khan is the second U.S. resident to consider attacking a domestic Jewish target in 2016. The other was James Gonzalo Medina, a Florida resident arrested on April 29, 2016 accused of plotting to blow up a Florida synagogue during the Passover holiday on behalf of ISIS.
ADL has written a report about the connections between anti-Semitism and Islamic extremist ideology, which also includes a list of U.S. residents linked to terrorism since 2012 who expressed anti-Semitic motivation and a list of plots against Jews and Jewish institutions worldwide.