Two people arrested in New Jersey terror investigation following Halloween plot in Michigan

Two men have been charged in connection with an alleged ISIS-inspired terror plot planned in Michigan, New Jersey’s acting U.S. Attorney Alina Haba said Wednesday.

Haba said in a video on the social media platform

Four other men were arrested in connection with the plot: three from Michigan and one from New Jersey.

According to a criminal complaint against two Michigan men unsealed Monday, the men scouted gay-friendly bars in Ferndale, Michigan, outside Detroit. The complaint also alleges that the men planned the attack in person and via WhatsApp, an encrypted communications platform.

A lawyer for one of the men arrested in Michigan told The Associated Press on Saturday that the men were not planning a terrorist attack, and that he “doesn’t know where all this hysteria and fearmongering came from.”

Heba said the men were accused on Wednesday of using encrypted messaging platforms to plan travel to Türkiye and Syria from October 2024 until Tuesday. She added that the two men discussed joining ISIS, “detailed” travel plans, physical training methods, firearms and explosive devices, and ways to avoid detection by law enforcement.

Haba said that both of them pledged to belong to ISIS and conspired to launch terrorist attacks in the United States.

On Wednesday, one man appeared before a federal court in New Jersey, while the other appeared before a federal court in the Western District of Washington.

FBI Director Kash Patel said Wednesday that he was “grateful” for the work of Haba, the FBI, the Department of Justice and Attorney General Pam Bondi in the case, noting that their “efforts helped save lives and keep Americans safe.”