According to a press release published by the U.S. Department of Justice, on May 14, a former member of the Michigan Army National Guard was arrested after attempting to implement a plan to conduct a mass shooting at a U.S. military base in Warren, Michigan, in the name of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).
Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, 19, has been charged with “attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and distributing information related to a destructive force,” the press release reads.
“This defendant is charged with planning a deadly attack on a U.S. military base here at home for ISIS,” said Sue J. Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Thanks to the tireless efforts of law enforcement, we foiled the attack before lives were lost. We will not hesitate to bring the full force of the Department to find and prosecute those who seek to harm our men and women in the military and to protect all Americans.”
“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,” said U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. for the Eastern District of Michigan. “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.”
“The arrest of this former soldier is a sobering reminder of the importance of our counterintelligence efforts to identify and disrupt those who would seek to harm our nation,” said Brig. Gen. Rhett R. Cox, the commanding general of Army Counterintelligence Command. “I commend the tireless work of our special agents and FBI partners who worked together to investigate and apprehend this individual. We will continue to collaborate with our partners to prevent similar incidents in the future. We urge all soldiers to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to their chain of command, as the safety and security of our Army and our nation depends on our collective efforts to prevent insider threats.”
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TACOM facility targeted
According to the official complaint, Said allegedly told two undercover law enforcement officers about a plan he had devised to conduct a mass-shooting at the U.S. Army’s Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command (TACOM) facility at the Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Michigan.
Last month, the two officers told Said that they were prepared to carry out his plan at the behest of ISIS.
Said then allegedly provided the two officers with an attack plan, magazines of armor-piercing bullets, conducted reconnaissance by flying a drone over TACOM, trained the two undercover agents on firearms and the use of Molotov cocktails and went over numerous details about the attack, including how to enter the base and which buildings to target.
The attack was scheduled for May 13. That day, Said was arrested near the base while operating a drone in support of the attack. He appeared in court the following day in the Eastern District of Michigan.
Said was held in pretrial after prosecutors argued that he posed a threat to the community.
If convicted, Said faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each charge.
Warren Mayor Lori Stone told The Detroit News, “This is a chilling reminder that the threat of terrorism is not confined to distant battlefields—it can emerge from within our communities. The arrest of a 19-year-old former Michigan National Guard member, accused of plotting a mass casualty attack on the U.S. Army’s Detroit Arsenal in Warren, underscores the real and persistent danger posed by domestic radicalization.”
