Michigan lawyer disputes Kash Patel’s Halloween terror plot claims

A Michigan defense attorney is disputing FBI Director Kash Patel’s claims that five young men arrested over Halloween weekend were plotting a terrorist attack, intensifying scrutiny of the director who is already facing backlash over his personal use of government aircraft.

What Patel said: Patel posted on X Friday morning that his agency “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 later that day, he wrote, “Thanks to swift action and coordination with our partners, a violent plot tied to international terrorism was disrupted.”

Five people from Dearborn and Inkster were reportedly arrested earlier in the day in connection with a plot linked to Islamic State group extremism. The probe centered on online chat discussions where at least some of those arrested allegedly made references to “pumpkin” and “pumpkin day” in connection with Halloween, two people briefed on the investigation told the Associated Press. Senior law enforcement sources also told NBC that some of those arrested are naturalized citizens born in the Middle East who had access to firearms and firearm training.

What the defense is saying: Defense attorney Amir Makled has offered a sharply different account. His 20-year-old Dearborn client remained in custody as of Saturday, and while federal authorities provided limited information, Makled said he reviewed the matter and found no evidence of a planned attack. “I don’t know where this hysteria and this fearmongering came from,” he told the AP. The suspects, he said, are all male U.S. citizens between ages 16 and 20 who are gamers. Meanwhile, authorities said there was no ongoing threat to public safety following the arrests.

Rather than terrorists, Makled characterized his client as belonging to a group with a “lawful interest in recreational firearms.” Without directly naming Patel, he criticized the “deeply premature announcement” by the FBI and warned that such rhetoric “unfairly stigmatizes Arab and Muslim communities in Michigan and fuels fear where none is warranted.” This is particularly significant given that Dearborn has a majority population of residents with Middle Eastern and North African ancestry, as per census data.

The big picture: The arrests come amid mounting questions about Patel’s judgment and transparency. Just hours before he announced them, the FBI fired Steven Palmer, a 27-year agency veteran who supervised aviation operations. Sources told Bloomberg Law that Patel was angered by news reports about his use of an FBI jet to attend an Oct. 25 wrestling match in Pennsylvania, where his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, performed the national anthem. This makes Palmer the third leader of the critical incident response group to be fired or removed during Patel’s directorship.

The pattern extends beyond personnel decisions. Earlier this year, Patel drew widespread criticism over his management of FBI investigation announcements, specifically for sharing and then retracting significant details on social media about the Charlie Kirk assassination. The jet-use controversy is particularly awkward given that Patel attacked his predecessor in 2023, calling Chris Wray “#GovernmentGangster” and accusing him of “jetting off on taxpayer dollars.”

Makled on Sunday said he anticipated his client would be either charged or released from the Livingston County Jail Monday, though no updates have been publicly reported as of today.