Melvindale man's planned terrorist attack at Warren military base is thwarted, feds say
A Melvindale man, who is a former member of the Michigan Army National Guard, is charged with planning a mass shooting at a military base in Warren on behalf of ISIS and launching a drone in support of the plan near the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command (TACOM).
Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, 19, is charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and distributing information related to a destructive device/explosive, according to a criminal complaint in U.S. District Court in Detroit. He was arrested May 13.
Said is to make an initial appearance in federal court May 14. Prosecutors are expected to ask the court to hold him in pretrial detention because of his danger to the community and a risk that he will flee, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
If convicted, the office indicated, he faces up to 20 years in prison on each count.
"ISIS is a brutal terrorist organization which seeks to kill Americans. Helping ISIS or any other terrorist organization prepare or carry out acts of violence is not only a reprehensible crime – it is a threat to our entire nation and way of life. Our office will not tolerate such crimes or threats, and we will use the full weight of the law against anyone who engages in terrorism," U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. said in the release.
During the course of an undercover FBI investigation, Said introduced and discussed a plan he devised to conduct a shooting at TACOM at the Detroit Arsenal in Warren, according to an affidavit filed with the complaint. In April, it states, undercover FBI personnel purporting to be ISIS supporters indicated to Said that they intended to carry out his planned attack at the direction of ISIS.
According to the affidavit, Said "provided assistance to the attack plan he orginally devised − one that he believed would result in the death of many American citizens."
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In response, it indicated, Said provided armor-piercing ammunition and magazines for the attack, a drone intended to conduct operational reconnaissance and surveillance of TACOM. training regarding the use of a firearm and construction of Molotov cocktails.
On May 13 − the day of the scheduled attack − after he went to an area near TACOM and launched his drone in support of the plan, Said was arrested, according to the release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
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Said enlisted in the Michigan Army National Guard around September 2022, attended initial basic training at Fort Moore, Georgia, and reported to the Michigan Army National Guard Taylor Armory after completing initial training, according to the affidavit. It indicated he was discharged from the Michigan Army National Guard around December.
Sue Bai, head of the Justice Department's National Security Division, indicated in the release that the attack was "foiled ... before lives were lost."
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan man's planned ISIS terrorist attack thwarted, feds say
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