The FBI arrested multiple suspects who were allegedly plotting a foiled “potential terrorist attack” in Michigan over the Halloween weekend, Director Kash Patel said Friday.
“This morning the FBI thwarted a potential terrorist attack and arrested multiple subjects in Michigan who were allegedly plotting a violent attack over Halloween weekend,” Patel wrote in a statement on X.
Four senior law enforcement officials familiar with the case said the FBI in Detroit apprehended a group of young individuals into custody today who were plotting some form of attack with a possible reference to Halloween.
Those officials say the group has a nexus to some form of foreign extremism, but did not say if it was ISIS, Al Qaeda, or some other similar ideology. Officials stressed there is no current threat to the public,
One official says some of the arrests occurred in Dearborn and Inkster, Michigan.
Law enforcement was able to monitor the group in the greater Detroit area in the past several days at a minimum to make sure no actual attack happened, the officials said.
A federal law enforcement source told NBC News that the FBI arrests took place in Dearborn and Inkster, cities outside of Detroit.
Dearborn police confirmed in a Facebook post that the FBI carried out an operation there on Friday morning.
“The Dearborn Police Department has been made aware that the FBI conducted operations in the City of Dearborn earlier this morning,” police said, before adding that there was no threat to the public.
The case involves federal charges and arrests, but the court documents are sealed as of Friday morning.
Rebecca Shabad contributed.
