Islamic terror suspects arrested by the FBI in Michigan last week sought to target bars and nightclubs near Detroit on Halloween night, according to a criminal complaint filed on Saturday.
The 73-page complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, accuses Mohmed Ali, Majed Mahmoud, and a juvenile suspect, along with five co-conspirators, of seeking to carry out a terrorist attack for ISIS, hoping to copy the 2015 Paris terrorist attack that killed more than 130 people. The suspects codenamed the attack day “pumpkin,” leading investigators to believe that the planned attack would be carried out on Halloween, when bars and nightclubs would be full of partiers.
The suspects, who are all under 21, allegedly “sought guidance from the father of a local Islamic extremist ideologue” on when to conduct their attack. Ali lives in Dearborn, Michigan, which is known for its large Muslim population, and the criminal complaint states that Ali and Mahmoud met multiple times at night at parks in Dearborn. Ali and Mahmoud also shared ISIS-related materials through encrypted messaging and social media apps, according to the criminal complaint.
FBI Director Kash Patel said on Friday that the potential terrorist attack in Michigan was “thwarted” by federal agents. Patel added on Monday that the FBI “stopped a massacre before it could happen.”
“Two Michigan men planned an ISIS-inspired Halloween terror attack near Detroit- stockpiling weapons, scouting targets, and training at gun ranges,” Patel said. “This FBI acted fast, followed the evidence, and likely saved countless lives.”
The suspects allegedly scoped out sites of potential targets for their attack in September. According to the criminal complaint, the suspects drove past numerous bars and clubs in Ferndale, which is just north of Detroit, and is known as a go-to party spot for gay people.
Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to DailyWire.com/Subscribe to join now.
The FBI also said that the suspects practiced shooting firearms, including AR-15 style rifles, at a gun range in September and October. Federal authorities served search warrants at Ali’s and Mahmoud’s homes on October 31, where they recovered “three AR-15 style rifles, two shotguns, four handguns, more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition compatible with the three AR-15 style rifles, optical sights, two GoPro cameras, a flash suppressor, tactical vests, and other related firearms parts and accessories,” according to the complaint.
One of the co-conspirators, referred to as “Co-Conspirator 1” in the complaint, allegedly met with Ali and the juvenile suspect in June and July before he traveled out of the country. When Co-Conspirator 1 returned to the United States, Customs and Border Protection agents looked through his phone and found photos of the co-conspirator wearing tactical gear and holding weapons, the complaint stated. The CBP agents also allegedly found Google searches for ISIS and the Islamic State.
While Co-Conspirator 1 was overseas, he got on a group call with five other people, one of whom was an FBI Confidential Human Source. During the call, which the FBI source recorded, the participants discussed traveling to Syria to join ISIS, according to the complaint. A second co-conspirator then attempted to convince Ali and the juvenile suspect to join them and travel to Syria, but the two suspects allegedly said that they wanted to stay in the United States and do the “same thing as France,” which the FBI believes is a reference to the 2015 Paris terrorist attack.
