Two US citizens arrested in alleged ISIS-inspired Halloween plot: Justice Department

Two men were arrested Friday for allegedly planning an ISIS-inspired Halloween attack in Michigan, according to court records revealed Monday.

The men allegedly used the term “pumpkin day” for their plans, according to the complaint.

Attorney General Pam Bondi thanked the FBI for stopping the plot “before innocent lives were lost.”

Mohmed Ali and Majed Mahmoud, both American citizens, he allegedly purchased a shotgun, an AR-15-style rifle and a “forced reset trigger that allows the shooter to increase the rate of fire on a semi-automatic weapon,” according to the complaint.

The men and three other accomplices allegedly practiced shooting at shooting ranges around Michigan, according to the complaint, and allegedly drove to outside locations to practice shooting. The Department of Justice alleges that in other terrorist attacks, the perpetrators had also previously practiced shooting with firearms.

They allegedly “used encrypted online communications and social media applications to share extremist and ISIS-related materials that encouraged attacks similar to those they planned,” the complaint says.

Searching homes on Friday, FBI agents found multiple AR-15-style rifles, shotguns, pistols and tactical veterans, as well as more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition compatible with AR-15-style rifles, according to the complaint.

The FBI was first alerted to the men after a 2024 review of one of the anonymous accomplice’s phones. When that person returned to the United States, a Customs and Border Protection officer searched the phone and found “Google searches related to ‘ISIS’ and ‘Islamic State,’ and images of what appears to be Co-conspirator 1 wearing military-style clothing and weapons,” according to the documents.

While the co-conspirator was traveling abroad, Ali and Mahmoud participated in a group call “discussed traveling abroad to join Co-conspirator 1 and then traveling together to Syria to join ISIS,” the documents said.

That’s when, according to the Justice Department, the men said they were staying in the United States to do “the same thing as France,” in reference to the 2015 ISIS attack in Paris. Later in the conversation, the men allegedly made reference to a possible attack at a club or nightclub, referencing the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, for which ISIS claimed responsibility.

On Oct. 17, Ali allegedly told an unnamed individual, “We really, really have a new plan,” and urged the person to “learn how to shoot,” according to the complaint. The next day, Ali allegedly said he would hold a meeting to discuss how to move forward with the alleged plan.

Ali allegedly said: “Tell him [MAHMOUD] this, this is about this, we return to these pumpkins,” according to the documents.

“Based on the context of this conversation and the additional information described below, I believe that ALI and Person 1 were potentially referring to an attack they would carry out on or around Halloween when they made reference to ‘pumpkins,'” the documents said.

On October 19, there appeared to be some reluctance to carry out the attack, but by the end of the conversation, Ali was discussing a possible date, according to the Justice Department.

“In another conversation on October 19, 2025, Person 1 and ALI again referenced ‘pumpkin’ and Person 1 told ALI to ‘change it back,'” the documents said. “ALI then told Person 1 ‘that’s not happening’ and said, ‘if that happens, the thing is, you won’t know it once you see it on the news, on the open news.'”

On Oct. 24, the unnamed person in the indictment told Ali, “I talked to my brothers. We’re going to make pumpkins,” the documents said.