The lawyer for a man arrested in Michigan in connection with what the FBI described as a thwarted Halloween terror plot says there is “no evidence” to back up the claim.
Three senior law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation said federal agents took five people from Dearborn and Inkster, Michigan, into custody Friday as part of a investigation into a plot to attack the U.S. around Halloween that was tied to Islamic State group extremism.
Two senior law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation said some of the suspects are naturalized citizens born in the Middle East who had access to firearms and firearm training.
Lawyer Amir Makled declined to name his client, who he said had not been charged, but described him as a 20-year-old, U.S.-born member of a group “with a lawful interest in recreational firearms, not a terrorist cell or organized attack.”
“There is no evidence whatsoever of a planned terror or ‘mass casualty’ plot,” Makled said in a written statement Saturday.
He said his client was cooperating fully. The FBI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday night.
FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on X Friday that his agents “thwarted a potential terrorist attack and arrested multiple subjects in Michigan who were allegedly plotting a violent attack over Halloween weekend.”
In a separate post Friday, Patel said the FBI and its partners stopped “a violent plot tied to international terrorism.”
Without naming Patel, Makled said in the statement, “What has been portrayed publicly stems from a deeply premature announcement by the FBI’s national leadership before all the facts were known.”
“This kind of rhetoric unfairly stigmatizes Arab and Muslim communities in Michigan and fuels fear where none is warranted,” he said.
U.S. Census Bureau data in 2023 showed that Dearborn residents of Middle Eastern and North African ancestry compose a majority of the city’s population.
Makled said Sunday that he expects his client will either be charged or released from the Livingston County Jail on Monday. He said he has not heard anything from the federal government.
The three senior law enforcement officials said Friday it was not immediately clear what, if any, specific targets had been identified. The names of the five individuals have not been made public and the court documents appeared to still be sealed Friday.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
