Former Michigan National Guardsman planned Army base attack for ISIS, prosecutors say
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DETROIT — A former member of the Michigan Army National Guard has been arrested for allegedly attempting to carry out a mass attack at a U.S. military base in suburban Detroit on behalf of the Islamic State militant group, federal prosecutors said.
Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, 19, of Melvindale, was arrested on May 13 and charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and distributing information related to a destructive device, according to a criminal complaint in U.S. District Court in Detroit. Said faces up to 20 years in prison for each count if convicted.
Prosecutors accused Said of planning a mass shooting at the Army's Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command, or TACOM, facility in Warren. The alleged attack was scheduled to occur on May 13, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said in a news release on May 14.
Prosecutors alleged that Said attempted to conduct the attack in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, known as ISIS. Though ISIS was largely defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019 by a U.S.-led military campaign, the militant group has been operating in the shadows with sleeper cells and has attracted people from across the world to join its ranks.
"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," U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. said in a statement on May 14. "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."
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During an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation investigation, Said introduced and discussed a plan he devised to conduct a shooting at TACOM, according to an affidavit filed with the complaint. The affidavit alleges that in April, undercover FBI personnel purporting to be ISIS supporters indicated to Said that they intended to carry out his planned attack at the direction of the militant group.
Said "provided assistance to the attack plan he originally devised − one that he believed would result in the death of many American citizens," the affidavit states.
In response to the undercover agents, Said provided material assistance, including armor-piercing ammunition and magazines, according to the affidavit. He also flew his drone over TACOM to conduct operational reconnaissance and surveillance, the affidavit states.
The affidavit further alleged that Said provided training to the undercover agents on the use of firearms and the construction of Molotov cocktails. Prosecutors added that he planned "numerous details of the attack, including how to enter TACOM and which building to target."
Prosecutors said Said was arrested 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.
Sue Bai, head of the Department of Justice's National Security Division, said in the news release that the attack was "foiled ... before lives were lost."
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.
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Researchers have reported a possible growing trend between the military and extremist activity, according to a December 2024 report from the University of Maryland's National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START.
The report notes that about 15% of the people charged with committing crimes at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 had connections to the military, and also finds that 'from 1990 through 2023, 730 individuals with U.S. military backgrounds committed criminal acts that were motivated by their political, economic, social, or religious goals.'
Experts have long discussed the issue of extremist activity among military ranks and veterans. Recent data has shown that having a military background is the 'single strongest predictor' of violent extremism in America, according to START.
Recent attacks in the United States have heightened concerns about potential terror threats in the country, including the New Year's Day truck attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people and the Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion.
Though authorities have said the two incidents were unrelated, both involved men with military backgrounds and were investigated as possible terrorist attacks. Authorities later revealed that the suspect in the New Orleans attack was inspired by ISIS. The two incidents remain under investigation.
Contributing: Will Carless, USA TODAY; Reuters
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