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Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said
A Melvindale man—a former member of the Michigan Army National Guard—faces charges of attempting to carry out a mass shooting at a U.S. military base in Warren on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and ISIS, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Wednesday.
Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, 19, is charged in a federal criminal complaint with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and distributing information related to a destructive device.
According to an FBI affidavit, Said enlisted in 2022 in the Michigan Army National Guard while still in high school and attended initial basic training at Fort Moore, Georgia. The minimum age to join the Guard is 17.
After completing his initial training, Said reported to the Michigan Army National Guard Taylor Armory. He was discharged last December.
According to the complaint, Said informed two undercover FBI agents of a plan he had devised to conduct a mass shooting at the U.S. Army’s Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command (“TACOM”) facility at the Detroit Arsenal in Warren.
During the course of the undercover investigation, on Sept. 5, 2024, in a recorded conversation, Said acknowledged that the enemies of ISIS, besides soldiers, included Jews, Americans, tourists, and other Muslims, the FBI affidavit stated. He also said he had no problem targeting these groups.
Said indicated that he had been on the Warren base during his time in the National Guard.
In April, the two undercover agents told him they would carry out his plan at the direction of ISIS.
In response, Said provided material assistance to the attack plan, including armor-piercing ammunition and magazines, flying his drone over TACOM to conduct operational reconnaissance, training the undercover agents on firearms and how to construct Molotov cocktails, and helping decide which buildings to target, the criminal complaint said.
The attack was scheduled for Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Shortly before that, around 9:30 a.m., Said was seen leaving his home dressed in all black. He met up with one of the undercover agents at a park in Dearborn before they headed to Warren. Said informed the other undercover agent that they would be arriving soon. After they parked the vehicle, authorities allege that Said launched his drone to surveil the base.
Shortly after, the FBI arrested him.
“ISIS is a brutal terrorist organization which seeks to kill Americans. 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. Our office will not tolerate such crimes or threats, and we will use the full weight of the law against anyone who engages in terrorism,” interim U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon said in a statement.
“This defendant is charged with planning a deadly attack on a U.S. military base here at home for ISIS,” said Sue J. Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, in a statement. “Thanks to the tireless efforts of law enforcement, we foiled the attack before lives were lost.”
