(New York) A 23-year-old man was convicted Wednesday of possessing a firearm in connection with a planned attack targeting New York’s Jewish community, judicial authorities announced.
Christopher Brown and an alleged accomplice were arrested at New York’s busy Penn Station in November 2022. They are accused of planning to attack a Manhattan synagogue.
Christopher Brown pleaded guilty to possession of a weapon with intent to commit a terrorist act, prosecutor Alvin Bragg said. His 10-year prison sentence will be handed down on Nov. 13, he said in a statement.
The proceedings against Christopher Brown’s alleged accomplice are still ongoing, Alvin Bragg added.
Police found a knife, a swastika armband and a ski mask in Brown’s backpack, prosecutors said. They also found a gun and 19 rounds of ammunition in his alleged accomplice’s apartment.
Several synagogues have been attacked in the United States in recent years. In 2018, 11 people were killed in a Pennsylvania synagogue by a right-wing extremist, amid a surge in anti-Semitic acts and fears of a resurgence of neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups.
The perpetrator of the attack, the deadliest against Jews in US history, was sentenced to death in 2023.