A Michigan defense lawyer is disputing FBI allegations that his 20-year-old client and four other young suspects were planning to carry out a terror attack on Halloween weekend.
Authorities with the FBI and in Michigan have offered few details about the case, however as he announced the arrests on Friday, FBI Director Kash Patel said more information would be released.
Spokespersons for the state and national FBI and the U.S. Attorney in Detroit did not immediately respond to messages Saturday.
The group allegedly discussed carrying out an attack around Halloween, referring to “pumpkin day,” according to one of the people.
Investigators say they believe the Halloween plot was inspired by Islamic State group extremism.
The FBI claimed that his 20-year-old client and four other young suspects planned to carry out a terror attack on Halloween weekend, but the Michigan defense attorney disagrees.
Few details about the case have been provided by FBI and Michigan authorities, but FBI Director Kash Patel said more information would be made public when he announced the arrests on Friday. FBI representatives from the U.S. S. On Saturday, messages were not immediately answered by the Detroit attorney.
Two individuals briefed on the investigation who were not allowed to publicly discuss specifics said that at least some of the suspects who were arrested participated in discussions in an online chat room. They requested anonymity when speaking to The Associated Press. One of the individuals claims that the group talked about carrying out an attack around Halloween, which is also known as “pumpkin day.”. It was confirmed by the other person briefed on the investigation that a “pumpkin” reference had occurred.
Lawyer Amir Makled, however, who is representing a man from the Dearborn suburb who was being held on Saturday, told The Detroit News that he does not think his client or the four other individuals the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force questioned should face charges. The all-male U.S. group. S. . According to Makled, the citizens’ ages range from 16 to 20.
Makled told The News, “This isn’t a terrorist cell. “As far as I know, there was never a planned mass casualty incident or terrorist plot of any kind. Their presence on certain websites or online chat groups may have been inappropriate, but nothing that is against the law. “.”.
Messages from the AP on Saturday asking for comment were not immediately answered by Makled.
Following the arrests, authorities stated on Friday that they do not think the public is in any danger. “The FBI arrested several subjects in Michigan who were allegedly planning a violent attack over Halloween weekend and thwarted a potential terrorist attack,” Patel wrote in a post on X on Friday. “.”.
Patel gave credit for stopping the plot to the FBI’s diligence and local authorities’ assistance.
Makled expressed his belief that those remarks might have been made too soon.
“It’s not illegal to be curious about world events,” he said. It is not unlawful to be in those chat rooms. You go beyond a certain point if there is a threat, if they have become radicalized, or if an FBI agent is attempting to provoke them or persuade them to do improper or unlawful behavior. In this case, none of that occurred. “”.
By conducting sting operations in which agents pretended to be terrorist supporters and provided guidance and equipment, the FBI has prevented multiple alleged attacks since the 9/11 attacks.
Investigators say they think the Halloween plot was motivated by the extremism of the Islamic State network. According to one of the people familiar with the investigation, the FBI made arrests on Friday after the reference to Halloween, even though it wasn’t immediately apparent if the group had the resources to carry out an attack.
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