Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Hubba said Wednesday that two people have been charged in connection with an alleged ISIS-inspired terrorist plot planned in Michigan.
Hubba said in one Video social platform
Four other people have been arrested in connection with the plot: three from Michigan and one from New Jersey.
according to a criminal complaint The seal was lifted Monday against two Michigan men after the men searched an LGBTQ-friendly bar in Ferndale, Michigan, outside Detroit. The complaint also alleges that people planned the attack in person and through the encrypted communication platform WhatsApp.
A lawyer for one of the people arrested in Michigan told The Associated Press on Saturday that the men weren’t planning A terrorist attack, and he doesn’t know “where all this hysteria and this fear-mongering came from.”
Hubba said the people alleged on Wednesday used encrypted messaging platforms to plan travel to Turkey and Syria in October 2024 as of Tuesday. He said the two allegedly discussed joining ISIS, “elaborate” travel plans, physical training methods, firearms and improvised explosive devices, and ways to avoid law enforcement detection.
Both handed themselves over to ISIS and plotted terrorist attacks in the United States, Habba said.
On Wednesday, one man appeared in federal court in New Jersey, while the other appeared in federal court in the Western District of Washington.
FBI Director Kash Patel Said Ax said Wednesday that he was “grateful” for the work of Hubbard, the FBI, the Justice Department and Attorney General Pam Bondi on the case, adding that “their efforts helped save lives and keep Americans safe.”
