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Six young men, hailing from three different states and all between the ages of 19 and 21, have been accused in a sprawling plot that federal investigators allege includes two thwarted terror plots, one a Halloween mass shooting and the other involving plans to travel to Syria and fight for the Islamic State terror group.
Their alleged plot to join ISIS represents what one immigration expert called a fundamental failure of American assimilation and the speed at which radicalization can happen over the internet.
"Lone wolves have been a problem for decades," said Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center. "Now we’re also seeing this happen in groups and among young people. Think about Charlie Kirk’s alleged murder."
SUSPECTED NEW JERSEY JIHADI FANTASIZED ABOUT KILLING JEWS WITH SWORDS IN ALLEGED ISIS PLOT: FEDS
Federal investigators intercepted this photo that they allege shows Tomas Jimenez-Guzel wearing a keffiyeh on his head and holding a handgun. He allegedly blurred his own face before sending the image. (Justice Department)
Three of the suspects are from Dearborn, Michigan, a Detroit suburb near where the alleged plotters are accused of planning to attack gay bars on Halloween. Another comes from Kent, Washington, where a judge said he had "strong family ties [and] stable housing." At least one is a New Jersey college student whose mom works for the United Nations. Another, who lived in the same upscale Montclair community, is the son of an English professor.
While authorities have not said any of the suspects are immigrants or naturalized citizens, at least two have familial ties overseas, and the alleged plot included contacts in the United Kingdom, Sweden and Nigeria.
"For decades, we've seen a problem of immigrants or first-generation [citizens] not assimilating into Americans," Ries told Fox News Digital. "This is partly on the government, civic organizations, etc. — but also social media is aggravating all of these."
ORLANDO’S PULSE NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING INSPIRED ISIS-LINKED HALLOWEEN TERROR PLOT: COURT DOCS
A split image shows still photos taken from surveillance video showing suspect Mohmed Ali at a Michigan gun range. (Eastern District of Michigan)
In a series of encrypted chats and voice calls intercepted by the FBI, members of the group allegedly used code words, including "vacation" to mean jihad, "pumpkin" as a reference to a mass shooting on Halloween, "unalive" instead of kill, "pew" as a reference to guns and "Thanksgiving land" to mean Turkey, where some of them are accused of planning to fly to before moving on to Syria.
At least two of the suspects had been previously interviewed by the FBI. One, living in Washington state, had alleged ties to a juvenile terror suspect in Canada. The other lives in New Jersey and is accused of talking about a potential terror attack in Boston during a livestream. A third allegedly looked up bodycam and GoPro-style videos of multiple mass shootings.
The thwarted Detroit plot was allegedly planned to be similar to a mass terror attack in France in 2015 that killed more than 130 people and injured hundreds, as well as the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, which killed another 49.
SUSPECTS IN FOILED HALLOWEEN TERROR PLOT PICTURED PRACTICING AT MICHIGAN GUN RANGE: FBI
Ayob Nasser, in black, is the fifth man to be charged in connection with an alleged Halloween terror plot in Michigan. His older brother, Mohmed Ali, was charged Monday alongside fellow Dearborn 20-year-old Majed Mahmoud. Separately, two more young men were arrested in New Jersey. (Eastern District of Michigan)
After Detroit-area members of the group were arrested with an alleged stockpile of high-end guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, some of the other suspects are accused of accelerating their plans to leave the U.S. One even moved up his flight before federal agents arrested him at an airport in Newark, New Jersey, according to court documents.
While ISIS was defeated militarily in 2019, terrorist ideas continue to spread online, and they can be fanned by claims that the U.S. is a "racist" country or that the world should be viewed in terms of "oppressor vs. oppressed," which Ries called "nonsense."
"If all that were true, why would millions of people still be coming here?" she asked. "It just defies logic and it shows how untrue and what a lie their oppressor-oppressed model is."
FEDS ARREST TWO ADDITIONAL SUSPECTS IN THWARTED ISIS-INSPIRED HALLOWEEN PLOT: SOURCE
This image taken from surveillance video shows Mohmed Ali, right, and alleged co-conspirator Majed Mahmoud on the left at a Michigan gun range. (Eastern District of Michigan)
As campus protests ramped up against Israel's military response to Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attack in April, one of the suspects allegedly messaged a friend, "[b]ro everyone hates the Jews now...I hope a second holocaust happens to them," according to federal investigators. After the friend mentioned a nearby pro-Israel protest, he allegedly responded by saying, "I'm gonna drive into the protest and run over like 10 Jews."
Another suspect allegedly said he hoped he would end up with a documentary made about him and his own page on Wikipedia, according to court documents.
Ries argued that the U.S. and similar nations are under coordinated ideological attack by academic groups and foreign organizations.
Federal investigators intercepted this photo that they allege shows Saed Mirreh in ISIS-style garb. He allegedly blurred his own face before sending the image. (Justice Department)
"There is a real globalist effort to invade, to commit violence, to deconstruct Western civilization from within, through division and violence," Ries warned. "The U.S. is on that same path, not as far down as the U.K. or France, nonetheless, we're on the path."
"We need to get back, as a sovereign nation, we need to get back to teaching assimilation and encouraging assimilation and civics, one language, encouraging loyalty to your fellow Americans," Ries said.
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She added that on top of President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigrants, federal immigration authorities are also stepping up scrutiny of potential new citizens.
"The Trump administration is now returning to neighborhood visits for naturalization applications to see if [an applicant] is going to uphold the oath that they would take if we grant them naturalization," Ries said. "Are they gonna be loyal to America and their fellow Americans?"
