A potential threat to New York City's Jewish community has been foiled by the FBI/NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said Saturday, according to ABC7.
According to Sewell, MTA officers on Saturday morning arrested two people entering Manhattan's Penn Station.
The arrests led to the confiscation of an illegal Glock 17 firearm, a 30-round magazine, a large hunting knife, and several other items, ABC7 said.
The site named Christopher Brown, 21, of Aquebogue, New York, as being charged with making terroristic threats, aggravated harassment, and criminal possession of a weapon. It added that Matthew Mahrer, 22 and a resident of New York City, is also facing weapons charges.
Police sources added that Brown made a series of increasingly concerning statements about attacking a synagogue in New York City, but did not name a specific synagogue.
The New York Daily News reported that Brown was wearing a swastika armband at the time of his arrest, and was armed with the large hunting knife. The site also said that Mahrer was armed with the Glock, and that the threat had been discovered Friday by both state and federal law enforcement
"By early Saturday, the NYPD's exhaustive intelligence-gathering led to the arrest by sharp-eyed MTA police officers of two individuals entering Penn Station, in Manhattan, and the seizures of a large hunting knife, an illegal Glock 17 firearm and 30-round magazine, and several other items," Sewell said, according to Fox5.
"As a joint investigation now continues to establish a strong prosecution, Police Department commanders are strategically deploying assets at sensitive locations throughout New York City."
ABC7 noted that federal prosecutors are deciding whether additional charges are warranted.