A former member of the Michigan Army National Guard has been arrested and charged with planning a mass shooting on behalf of ISIS, US authorities said on Wednesday.
The Justice Department said 19-year-old Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said planned to carry out the attack at a US military base near Detroit.
“The arrest of this former soldier is a sobering reminder of the importance of our counter-intelligence efforts to identify and disrupt those who would seek to harm our nation,” said Gen Rhett Cox, the commander of Army Counterintelligence Command.
The criminal complaint filed in Eastern Michigan District Court alleges that Mr Said communicated with two undercover officers about a plan he had devised in April.
The officers told Mr Said they intended to carry out his plan at the direction of ISIS, at which point the suspect allegedly provided equipment, including armour-piercing ammunition.
He also flew his drone “to conduct operational reconnaissance, training the undercover employees on firearms and the construction of Molotov cocktails for use during the attack, and planning numerous details of the attack including how to enter and which building to target”, it is alleged.
According to charging documents seen by The National, Mr Said discussed the pros and cons of various attack plans with undercover agents, including the potential use of napalm, a flammable petroleum gel.
“It will melt into your skin. Molotov by itself, it will catch fire but it will turn off pretty quick,” he allegedly said.
The National has reached out to the lawyer listed as representing Mr Said.
The former guardsman, who was discharged in or around December, also allegedly deliberated about how much ammunition to carry.
“I recommend everyone have about seven magazines because you don’t want to be in there and run out of ammo,” documents state.
The attack was scheduled for May 13, but instead Mr Said was arrested. If found guilty he could face two decades behind bars.
A public affairs officer for the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan responded to that request and declined to make a comment "at this time."
