WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. – The FBI said it thwarted a potential terrorist attack in Michigan on Friday, and court documents are revealing more information about the alleged plot and the suspects involved.
Mohmed Ali and Majed Mahmoud were formally charged in connection with the alleged planned attack. They are each facing a count of “receiving and transferring, and attempting and conspiring to transfer, firearms and ammunition knowing and having reasonable cause to believe that the firearms and ammunition would be used to commit a federal crime of terrorism.”
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The criminal complaint includes details about encrypted conversations about the alleged plan for an attack, weapons purchased by the suspects, meetups at gun ranges, and scouting Ferndale as an attack location.
The people involved
Throughout the criminal complaint, the FBI refers to five people who were allegedly involved in the plot.
- Majed Mahmoud -- charged in the alleged attack.
- Mohmed Ali -- charged in the alleged attack.
- Person 1 -- a person under 18 years old who is referenced throughout.
- Co-conspirator 4 -- another person mentioned in the court documents.
- Co-conspirator 5 -- another person mentioned in the court documents.
Mohmed Ali and another person whose name was not included due to being under 18, live in Dearborn and were allegedly referenced in third-party conversations in July, September, and October that were made on an encrypted communication application.
In these conversations, other people said that the “brothers” (Ali and the child) were planning to conduct a terrorist attack in the U.S. on behalf of ISIS, according to the complaint.
The FBI also discovered that Mahmoud was a co-conspirator in this planned attack, along with two other co-conspirators.
In September and August, Ali allegedly bought the following:
- Shotgun
- AR-15 style rifle
- Forced reset trigger (allows the shooter to increase the rate of fire on a semiautomatic weapon)
- Other firearm accessories
In September 2025, Mahmoud also bought an AR-15 style rifle and multiple firearm accessories, according to the complaint.
Then, in October, Mahmoud bought more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition that could be used in the rifles they had purchased.
In September and October, Ali, Mahmoud, the child and the two other co-conspirators went to gun ranges to shoot firearms.
“Based on my investigative experience, I believe this was to develop their firearms skills in furtherance of an attack,” Nicholas Czech, Special Agent for the FBI, said in the complaint.
Here’s when they visited gun ranges:
- Sept. 25, 2025: Ali and Co-conspirator 4 went to a gun range together and each brought an AR-15 style rifle.
- Oct. 8, 2025: Ali and Mahmoud practiced shooting at a gun range.
- Oct. 16, 2025: Ali, Mahmoud and Co-conspirator 4 practiced shooting together.
- Oct. 17, 2025: The child went to a different gun range and practiced shooting.
- Oct. 24, 2025: Ali, the child and Co-conspirator 5 went to a gun range together. They arrived with an AR-15 rifle.
According to the complaint, in addition to going to gun ranges, the child, Ali and Mahmoud have also met up with each other at parks in Dearborn.
On Oct. 10, the three of them went to a park, got something out of Mahmoud’s trunk, and then brought it into a wooded area, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges that these three also allegedly went to “scout potential attack target locations in Ferndale.”
All five people involved in the alleged plot used encrypted communications and social media sites to “share ISIS-related materials that encourage attacks similar to what they planned,” according to the complaint.
Ali and the child also allegedly asked an Islamic Ideologue for guidance on when to conduct their attack, which they allegedly had planned for Halloween, Oct. 31, 2025.
On Oct. 31, federal agents recovered the following at Ali and Mahmoud’s homes:
- Three AR-15 style rifles
- Two shotguns
- Four handguns
- Over 1,600 rounds of ammunition
- Optical sights
- Two GoPro cameras
- Flash Suppressor
- Tactical Vests
- Other firearm accessories
Agents also found two chest rig vests, two black tactical backpacks and 24 empty magazines for AR-15 style rifles at a storage unit rented by Ali.
Local 4 and ClickOnDetroit are continuing to go through the court documents and will have much more coverage of the alleged plot today.