A foiled Halloween terror plot in a Detroit suburb had connections to the tragic 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, as revealed by court documents.
The Pulse nightclub shooting began as an active shooter scenario and escalated into a hostage crisis, resulting in 49 fatalities and 53 injuries. At the time, it was deemed the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil since the events of September 11, 2001.
According to the FBI, two young men, both 20 years old, from Dearborn, Michigan, along with a juvenile accomplice, were allegedly planning to carry out a similar attack at one or more nightclubs in Ferndale. This area is notable for its vibrant LGBT nightlife.
Mohmed Ali, pictured holding a rifle at a gun range, and his co-conspirator Majed Mahmoud, along with a juvenile referred to as “Athari,” were reportedly inspired by the Orlando tragedy in their plot to target Americans. (Photo: Gerardo Mora/Getty Images, Eastern District of Michigan)
Court documents reveal that Ali, Mahmoud, and the juvenile conducted reconnaissance in Ferndale in September, referring to their potential victims as “pumpkin.” Their activities raised red flags among investigators, primarily because the suspects were under 21, making legitimate visits to bars or clubs improbable.
The scouting trips were particularly suspicious to investigators because none of the suspects are over 21 years old, ruling out legitimate visits to bars or clubs.
There were about 300 people in the Pulse nightclub when Omar Mateen barged in and opened fire around 2 a.m. on June 12, 2016. Many of them, but not all, were part of the local LGBT community, according to authorities.
During an hours-long standoff, Mateen dialed 911 and a local news station, swearing allegiance to ISIS in both calls.
FBI agents investigate near the damaged rear wall of the Pulse Nightclub, where Omar Mateen killed 49 people on June 12, 2016, in Orlando, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
SWAT team officers killed him at around 5:15 a.m., breaching a wall and exchanging gunfire after hostage negotiations failed.
As the FBI was surveilling the suspects in the Michigan plot, agents intercepted messages claiming that Ali and Athari would “do the same thing as France” and that their alleged attack was “probably going to be at like a club, a disco.”
Ali and Mahmoud are being held without bail until at least next Monday, when they are due in federal court in Detroit for detention hearings.
The FBI executed search warrants Friday on the two men’s homes and a storage unit they shared, seizing multiple semiautomatic rifles, a shotgun, handguns, tactical gear and more than 1,600 rounds of 5.56 ammunition.
FBI agents search a home in Dearborn, Michigan, with alleged connections to the thwarted Halloween terror attack plot on Oct. 31, 2025. (WJBK)
Agents also recovered surveillance video showing Ali and other alleged conspirators at a Michigan gun range, where they are accused of practicing shooting in preparation for the foiled attack.
According to an FBI affidavit, the conspirators drew inspiration from the Pulse shooting and the 2015 coordinated terror attacks in Paris, France, which killed 137 and injured more than 400.
In Michigan, the suspects also sought advice from the father of a local “Islamic extremist ideologue,” according to the FBI affidavit, allegedly seeking religious approval for the plot.
This image taken from surveillance video shows Mohmed Ali, right, and alleged co-conspirator Majed Mahmoud on the left at a Michigan gun range. (Eastern District of Michigan)
They also allegedly discussed choosing a date that would be celebrated by subsequent radical Islamic terrorists.
Lawyers for Ali and Mahmoud declined to comment.
