Michigan ISIS-Inspired Halloween Plot: FBI Disrupts Dearborn-Area Attack Plan
Executive Summary
The FBI arrested two Dearborn, Michigan residents, Mohmed Ali and Majed Mahmoud, on November 1, 2025, for allegedly conspiring to provide material support to ISIS and transferring firearms knowing they would be used in a terrorist act. The arrests followed months of monitoring encrypted chats, weapons purchases, and shooting range practice sessions that investigators say were preparation for a planned attack on Halloween targeting an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Ferndale. A juvenile co-conspirator and several unnamed associates were also involved. Agents seized rifles, shotguns, pistols, tactical vests, over 1,600 rounds of ammunition, and ISIS-related propaganda materials.
Analysis
The case demonstrates a growing trend of self-radicalized U.S.-based youth using encrypted social media platforms to coordinate ISIS-inspired attacks domestically. FBI investigators identified clear intent, capability building, and ideological motivation consistent with prior ISIS-linked plots in the United States. The affidavit outlines a network of at least five conspirators who procured firearms, conducted live-fire training, scouted potential targets, and fixed Halloween as the intended attack date. Their choice of target area—Ferndale, Michigan, known for LGBTQ+ nightlife—matches patterns of ISIS’s past attacks on Western entertainment venues, including the 2015 Paris and 2016 Orlando attacks.
Between July and October 2025, encrypted group chats captured associates discussing “doing the same thing as France,” a likely reference to the 2015 Paris ISIS attacks, and coordinating U.S.-based violence.
Ali and Mahmoud purchased AR-15 rifles, forced-reset triggers, red-dot optics, tactical gear, and thousands of rounds of ammunition between August and October 2025.
The group visited multiple shooting ranges throughout October, practicing with the same rifle types they intended to use in the attack.
Surveillance and phone records show Ali, Mahmoud, and a juvenile scouting Ferndale’s nightclub district—particularly LGBTQ+ venues—on September 19 and 20, 2025.
Investigators recovered ISIS media, including Dabiq and Rumiyah magazines, and evidence of communications with an ISIS member in Syria.
Agents seized multiple rifles, handguns, 1,600 rounds of ammunition, and tactical vests during FBI raids on October 31 and November 1, 2025.
The plot reflects a continuing ISIS influence over isolated U.S. youth who radicalize online through exposure to extremist content and encrypted social media networks. The conspirators’ communications about martyrdom and seeking religious sanction from a known extremist ideologue mirror ISIS propaganda encouraging lone-actor or small-cell attacks in the West. The FBI’s rapid intervention ahead of Halloween likely prevented a mass-casualty shooting similar in nature to prior ISIS-inspired incidents targeting civilians in public spaces.
