Two Named in Foiled Michigan Terror Plot - Lawyer Claims They Were Just 'Gamers'

As RedState reported on Friday, FBI Director Kash Patel announced the agency had thwarted a Michigan terror plot, but said details would be supplied at a later time. On November 3, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the criminal complaint had been unsealed, giving the details on the thwarted terror plot, some particularly chilling. Two suspects were named in the criminal complaint: Mohmed Ali and Majed Mahmoud. Ali is reportedly an American citizen who hails from Dearborn, Michigan.

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Our newly unsealed complaint reveals a major ISIS-linked terror plot with multiple subjects arrested in the Eastern District of Michigan targeting the United States.

According to the complaint, subjects had multiple AR-15 rifles, tactical gear, and a detailed plan to carry out…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) November 3, 2025

Two Michigan men have been charged in a foiled ISIS-inspired terror attack that allegedly would have involved a massacre in a Detroit suburb on Halloween, according to an FBI affidavit.
Mohmed Ali, of Dearborn, Michigan, and Majed Mahmoud are accused of plotting to launch a terror-inspired mass shooting codenamed "pumpkin," according to court documents. They've been charged with receiving, transferring and attempting to receive and transfer firearms knowing and having reasonable cause to believe that they would be used to commit terrorism.
Ali practiced shooting at a local gun range multiple times, including with Mahmoud, a juvenile suspect referred to as "Person 1" and under the alias "Athari" — and once with an unnamed "Co-conspirator 4," according to the complaint.
The charges come after Amir Makled, a lawyer for Ali, who was arrested Friday, claimed to The Associated Press that there was no plot and that he did not expect charges to be filed. Makled did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital Monday.

Fox News Digital is putting this mildly. In the AP report, Makled outright dismissed this alleged terror plot as "hysteria" and "fearmongering," saying the group these young men belonged to was simply "gamers."

“I don’t know where this hysteria and this fearmongering came from,” Makled said.
He described the all-male group of U.S. citizens as gamers, and said they range in age from 16 to 20.
“If these young men were on forums that they should not have been on or things of that nature, then we’ll have to wait and see,” Makled said. “But I don’t believe that there’s anything illegal about any of the activity they were doing.”

The criminal complaint draws a different picture and names at least FIVE additional co-conspirators.

Person 1, ALI, MAHMOUD, Co-conspirator 4, and Co-conspirator 5 also regularly communicated with each other and with other individuals who separately indicated that they have knowledge of the potential attack plans and related information. In addition to meeting in person, Person 1, ALI, MAHMOUD, Co-conspirator 4, and Coconspirator 5 have used online encrypted communications and social media applications to share extremist and ISIS-related materials that encourage attacks similar to what they planned. Further, Person 1 and ALI discussed when to conduct their attack, which they appeared to set for Halloween, and they sought guidance from the father of a local Islamic extremist ideologue (the “Islamic Ideologue”) on this question.

Along with the communications, the FBI seized a stockpile of weapons that the suspects had purchased to carry out their intended attack.

Finally, on October 31, 2025, pursuant to federal search warrants, agents recovered, among other things, 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 at ALI’s and MAHMOUD’s residences. And in a storage unit rented by ALI and visited by MAHMOUD, agents recovered two more chest rig vests, two black tactical backpacks, and 24 empty magazines compatible with the three seized AR-15 style rifles.

One of the co-conspirators allegedly had internet search results for "ISIS" and "Islamic State." Two of the juvenile suspects named under aliases are reportedly the ones who wanted their "pumpkin" attack to mirror the 2015 ISIS attack in France.

Ali and Athari, the juvenile suspect's alias, were allegedly planning to do the "same thing as France," in an alleged reference to the Nov. 13, 2015 ISIS attack in France that left 137 dead and more than 400 injured after gunmen and suicide bombers launched a coordinated assault on multiple locations in the French capital.
"Co-conspirator 1" allegedly met with Ali and Athari in late June and early July before traveling abroad. When he returned to the U.S., Customs and Border Patrol agents asked to review his phone — where they allegedly found Google searches involving "ISIS," the "Islamic State" and selfies showing Co-conspirator 1 wearing tactical gear and holding weapons.
Although ISIS suffered a military defeat in 2019 at the hands of the U.S. and allied forces, the group continues to operate as a terror network, according to the complaint.

Radicalization of young men and women is still on the rise, and the occurrences through online means, social media, and gaming platforms have increased. The suspect in the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the 764 nihilist group, and recent arrests of Antifa and ICE protest activists reveal that the FBI is hard at work combing through technology, isolating potential actors, and connecting the dots to stop them before they can do damage. ISIS is sadly not dead, but reinventing itself to draw new recruits. As the criminal complaint attests, juveniles are easy prey.

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In the FBI press release, Director Patel and FBI Detroit Special Agent Jennifer Runyan committed to the utilization of all the tools necessary to keep the American people safe and deliver justice as required by the law.

“With today’s unsealed criminal complaint, the American people can see the results of months of tireless investigative work where the FBI acted quickly and likely saved many lives," said FBI Director Kash Patel. "We’ll continue to follow the facts, uphold the law, and deliver justice for the American people."
[...]
"FBI Detroit and its Joint Terrorism Task Force are relentless in ensuring the safety of the citizens of Michigan and beyond. Defending the homeland will always be one of our top priorities, and we will utilize every available federal resource to disrupt and dismantle any individuals or groups who threaten national security," said Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office. "I would like to express my sincere appreciation to our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan for their dedicated support.”

This investigation is ongoing.

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