By Steve Neavling
A 19-year-old Melvindale man and former member of the Michigan Army National Guard was arrested Tuesday after federal authorities say he planned a mass shooting at a U.S. military base in Warren on behalf of the Islamic State.
Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said is accused of attempting to carry out an ISIS-directed attack at the U.S. Army’s Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command (TACOM) facility at the Detroit Arsenal. According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court, Said provided armor-piercing ammunition, scoped out the base with a drone, and trained undercover officers in firearms and explosives — believing they were fellow ISIS supporters.
He is charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and distributing information related to a destructive device. He faces up to 20 years in prison on each count if convicted.
Said was taken into custody Monday near the military installation after launching a drone in what prosecutors said was a final step before the attack.
Federal officials said the plot was disrupted through a months-long investigation by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and Army counterintelligence agents, who posed as ISIS operatives. They said Said helped plan key parts of the attack, including which building to target and how to breach the facility.
“This defendant is charged with planning a deadly attack on a U.S. military base here at home for ISIS,” Sue J. Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, said in a statement. “Thanks to the tireless efforts of law enforcement, we foiled the attack before lives were lost. We will not hesitate to bring the full force of the Department to find and prosecute those who seek to harm our men and women in the military and to protect all Americans.”
Prosecutors said Said first laid out his plan to the undercover officers in April and continued to support the plot up until his arrest.
“Helping ISIS or any other terrorist organization prepare or carry out acts of violence is not only a reprehensible crime — it is a threat to our entire nation and way of life,” said U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. of the Eastern District of Michigan.
Said is scheduled to make his initial court appearance Tuesday in Detroit. Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to keep him in custody pending trial, citing the risk of flight and potential danger to the community.
