2 US citizens arrested in alleged ISIS-inspired Halloween plot: DOJ

Two men were arrested on Friday for allegedly plotting an ISIS-inspired Halloween attack in Michigan, according to court records unsealed on 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 U.S. citizens, allegedly bought a shotgun, an AR-15-style rifle and a “forced reset trigger that allows a shooter to increase the rate of fire in a semiautomatic weapon,” according to the complaint. 

The men and three other co-conspirators allegedly practiced shooting guns at firing ranges around Michigan, according to the complaint, and allegedly drove around to outside locations to practice shooting. The Justice Department alleges that in other terrorist attacks, the perpetrators have also practiced shooting with firearms beforehand. 

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

In searching homes on Friday, FBI agents found multiple AR-15-style rifles, shotguns, handguns and tactical vets, as well as more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition compatible with the AR-15-style rifles, the complaint said.

The FBI was first alerted to the men after a 2024 review of one of the unnamed co-conspirator’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 the ‘Islamic State,’ and pictures of what appear to be Co-conspirator 1 in military-style clothing with weapons,” documents said.

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

That is when, according to the Justice Department, the men said they were going to stay in the U.S. to do the “same thing as France,” referencing the 2015 ISIS attack in Paris. Later in the conversation, the men allegedly referenced a potential attack at a club or disco, referencing the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, which ISIS claimed responsibility for. 

On Oct. 17, Ali allegedly told an unnamed individual, “We’ve got some new plan for real — for real,” 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 ahead with the alleged plan.

Ali allegedly said, “Tell him [MAHMOUD] this, it’s on this, we are going back to this pumpkins,” according to documents.

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

On Oct. 19, there appeared to be some reluctance to carry out the attack, but at the end of the conversation, Ali was discussing a potential 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,'” documents said. “ALI then told Person 1 ‘that isn’t happening’ and said, ‘if that happens, the thing is you won’t know once you see it on the news, the open news.'”

On Oct. 24, the unnamed person in the indictment said to Ali, “I talked to my brothers. We are going to do pumpkin,” documents said.