DETROIT (WXYZ) — Three local men facing terrorism charges consented to detention in Detroit federal court Monday morning.
Watch Heather Catallo's video report:
20-year-old Mohmed Ali, his brother 19-year-old Ayob Nasser, and 20-year-old Majed Mahmoud are all charged with providing material support to ISIS and with having firearms that would be used to commit an act of terrorism.
FBI agents say they were stockpiling weapons, including AR-15 style rifles, more than 1600 rounds of ammunition, and tactical gear. Federal court records also show the suspects travelled to local gun ranges to practice with their weapons as they prepared for what federal prosecutors say was a planned mass casualty terror attack on American soil.
When the FBI raided locations in Dearborn and Inkster on Halloween, they said evidence showed the suspects repeatedly referenced ‘pumpkin day’ as part of the terror attack on Halloween weekend.
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Court records show the men had allegedly scoped out LGBTQ+ bars in Ferndale, and they also visited Cedar Point Amusement Park, leading agents to believe these were their potential targets.
PREVIOUS REPORT: 3 more men arrested in alleged Halloween terror plot, FBI investigates at Cedar Point
Now those three suspects will be staying behind bars after their attorneys told a federal magistrate judge Monday morning that all 3 men are consenting to detention.
“We’re going to waive our challenge to detention at this time,” said attorney Jim Thomas, who’s representing Nasser.
“We do consent to detention without prejudice to raise the issue of release at a later time,” said attorney William Swor, who is representing Mahmoud.
Attorney Amir Makled also told U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony Patti that his client, Ali, will consent to detention.
“The next time we see these defendants in court, it'll be for their arraignment on the indictment. They'll be indicted pretty soon. The government has telegraphed that,” said Matthew Schneider, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Schneider says even though the FBI provided a lot of detail about the case in their 93-page criminal complaint, complaints expire, which means formal indictments will happen, potentially as soon as this week.
The feds have been working on this case since at least 2024, and even though the recent arrests have been happening quickly, Schneider says the whole case is about to slow down due to a Notice of Intent to use Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Information.
“It's secret classified information,” said Schneider. “It means that they were surveilling these defendants in some ways that they haven't made known yet. They might have been using some secret surveillance types, and they haven't disclosed that publicly.”
A total of 8 suspects around the country have been arrested so far, including two in New Jersey and one in Washington state.
Schneider says while it appears federal prosecutors have a lot of evidence, the defense attorneys now involved are no strangers to complex terrorism cases. Thomas, Swor, and attorney Mike Rataj were part of the high-profile Hutaree case in 2010. Thomas and Swor also defended clients in a high-profile post-9/11 terrorism case.
“This is a very sophisticated prosecution, and it's going to be very difficult, and it is a big burden to overcome. It's to these defendants’ advantage that they have such sophisticated defense counsel who have done this before. They know the ins and outs, not only of the federal courthouse but of these particular types of charges,” said Schneider.
There are two juveniles charged as well. Their cases are under seal, which means no one is allowed to talk about those cases.
Nasser, Ali, and Mahmoud were all scheduled for preliminary examinations later this month. If they are indicted, those preliminary exams will likely be cancelled, according to legal experts.
None of the defense counsel would discuss the case publicly on Monday, and friends and family of the accused suspects also declined to be interviewed as they left federal court.
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