Members of the FBI gather evidence at a home in the 7000 block of Middlepointe St. in Dearborn on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025.
A member of the FBI is seen carrying an item from a home on Horger St. in Dearborn on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025.

DETROIT − Three days after announcing their arrests on social media, the federal government brought criminal charges against two men, alleging they plotted to carry out a terror attack in Michigan over Halloween weekend, only the FBI got to them first.

According to a criminal complaint filed on Nov. 3, Mohmed Ali and Majed Mahmoud both are charged with receiving and transferring, and attempting and conspiring to transfer, firearms and ammunition to commit terrorism. They are due to appear in federal court for initial appearances at 1 p.m. local time on Nov. 3.

The defendants have been described by one defense lawyer as being video gamers and recreational gun enthusiasts who were engaged in puffery, nothing else.

Mahmoud and Ali are among five men initially encountered by law enforcement on Oct. 31. Three of the men were arrested and two were questioned and released. The men — ages 16-20 — were arrested in predawn raids in Dearborn and Inkster that drew praise from Michigan's governor, the state attorney general and President Donald Trump.

All three thanked and applauded the FBI for − as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer put it on social media − preventing "what could have been a tragic attack ... thanks to their dedication, Michigan will have a safe and happy Halloween."

The FBI offered little details about the arrests, which were announced by FBI director Kash Patel in a social media post, in which he wrote: “The FBI stopped a potential terrorist attack in Michigan before it could unfold. Thanks to swift action and coordination with our partners, a violent plot tied to international terrorism was disrupted. This is what defending the homeland looks like − vigilance saves lives.”

Patel also credited the FBI with keeping trick-or-treaters, their families and other holiday revelers safe, saying: "thanks to their dedication, Michigan will have a safe and happy Halloween."

President Trump also chimed in while aboard Air Force One, telling reporters on his way back from his trip to Asia: "We're catching people before they even start."

But there was no threat to Michigan's Halloween to begin with, said attorney Amir Makled, whose 20-year-old client was locked up for two days in the Livingston County jail, professing his innocence.

"He says they got it all wrong ... There was no plot," Makled said. "And I believe him."

According to Makled, it was the groups’ recreational gun activity and internet communications that put them on the FBI’s radar. But he maintains that the suspects were merely “gamers” who talked tough on social media, and had no plans to harm anyone.

"These kids are gamers, gamers are weird in the way they talk to each other," Makled said to the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, following a jail visit with his client on Nov. 1.

"There is nothing here," Makled said. "What they did was jump the gun.”

The Halloween arrests came five months after the FBI announced it had foiled another alleged terrorist plot in Michigan, that one targeting the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command (TACOM) in Warren.

In that case, prosecutors charged Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, 19, of Melvindale, with plotting an attack on the military base on behalf of the Islamic State, or ISIS. He has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody pending the outcome of his case.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Feds charge 2 in alleged Halloween weekend terror plot

Reporting by Tresa Baldas, USA TODAY NETWORK / Detroit Free Press

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect