ISIS-Linked Plot THWARTED: Army Base Targeted

A 19-year-old former Michigan National Guard soldier allegedly tried to turn his U.S. weapons training against American troops in an ISIS-directed plot on a major Army base.

Story Snapshot

Federal agents say they foiled an Islamic State-inspired mass shooting at the Army’s TACOM facility near Detroit, planned by a former Michigan National Guard member.
Prosecutors allege the suspect used a drone for reconnaissance, supplied armor-piercing ammo, and trained “accomplices” who were actually undercover agents.
The case highlights both the persistence of jihadist ideology and the heavy reliance on undercover sting operations inside the United States.
Conservatives are left weighing the need for aggressive counterterrorism against concerns about government overreach and entrapment.

Former Guard Member Accused of Plotting ISIS Attack on Michigan Base

Federal prosecutors say Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, a 19-year-old from Melvindale, Michigan and former member of the Michigan Army National Guard, planned a mass shooting at the United States Army’s Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command facility at the Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Michigan, on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, often called ISIS.^[2]^[4] A Justice Department complaint accuses him of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and distributing information about a destructive device, felonies carrying up to 20 years each.^[2]

According to the criminal complaint, Said allegedly devised a plan to attack the Army installation, which manages roughly 60 percent of the Army’s ground equipment supply chain.^[2]^[4] Officials say he conducted detailed surveillance, including flying a drone over the base to map entry points and identify a specific building to target, and then shared that reconnaissance with two individuals he believed were Islamic State supporters but who were actually undercover federal officers.^[2]^[3]

How the Alleged Plot Developed and Was Disrupted

Justice Department documents state that in April 2025 the two undercover officers told Said they intended to carry out his plan at the direction of the Islamic State, and that he responded by providing concrete assistance.^[2]^[3] Prosecutors say he supplied armor-piercing ammunition and magazines, instructed the undercover officers on how to construct and deploy Molotov cocktails, and trained them on firearms use to maximize casualties during the planned assault on the Warren facility.^[2]^[3]^[4] The attack date was reportedly set for May 13, 2025.^[2]

On that day, investigators allege, Said traveled to an area near the Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command site and launched his drone to conduct final reconnaissance immediately before the planned attack.^[2]^[3] Federal agents then moved in and arrested him, ending the plot before any shots were fired.^[2]^[3] The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force continues to investigate the case, while prosecutors have announced they will seek to hold Said in pretrial detention based on the claimed danger to the community and risk of flight.^[2]^[3]^[4]

ISIS Ideology, FBI Stings, and Questions About Government Power

Reports from federal officials and open-source terrorism analysts describe Said as part of a continuing domestic threat tied to the Islamic State’s remaining propaganda influence, even as the group has lost most of its territory overseas.^[3] Investigators say he told contacts online that he wanted to join the Islamic State and even joined the Army to gain weapons training, later boasting he could assemble and disassemble a weapon in the dark, before being discharged in 2024 for failing to complete requirements.^[1] Authorities note he is at least the fourth person detained for Islamic State-linked activity in the United States this year.^[1]

On May 14, 2025, Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, a former member of the Michigan Army National Guard, was arrested after he attempted to carry out a plan to conduct a mass-shooting at a U.S. military base in Warren, Michigan, on behalf of the #ISIS. https://t.co/V8lCe8jLYN

— SAMRI (@SAMRIReports) May 14, 2026

At the same time, the case fits a broader national pattern where the Federal Bureau of Investigation uses undercover operatives in a large majority of Islamic State material-support prosecutions, often stepping in long before any attack can occur.^[1]^[3] Supporters of this approach argue it prevents more tragedies like Fort Hood or the Chattanooga recruiting center attack, while critics worry that aggressive sting tactics risk blurring the line between catching a committed terrorist and nudging an angry, unstable young man into a plot he might not have executed on his own. Conservative readers, wary of both jihadist extremism and unchecked federal power, will be watching this trial closely to see how strong the government’s evidence of true predisposition really is.