NJ Men Linked To Halloween 'Terrorist Plot', Feds Allege (UPDATED)

This article was updated on Nov. 6

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Two New Jersey residents have been linked to an investigation into a “terrorist” plot that was foiled in Michigan over the Halloween holiday, federal authorities say.

Tomas Kaan Jimenez Guzel, 19, and Milo Sedarat, 19 – both Montclair residents – were taken into custody following a joint investigation by the NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau and the FBI this week. Guzel was arrested at a food court at Newark Airport on Tuesday morning.

Police alleged they found ISIS-inspired propaganda on Guzel’s phone, including a statement he made online about conducting a “Boston bombing-like attack.” He was allegedly waiting for a flight to Turkey with the goal of reaching Syria and training with ISIS, according to the New York Post.

Sedarat was arrested at his father Roger Sedarat's home in Montclair on Wednesday.

Roger Sedarat is an award-winning Iranian American poet and a professor at Queens College in New York City, the Post said.

In a video statement issued Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba accused the two suspects of being connected to a “Halloween terror plot” in the Detroit, Michigan area.

Guzel was charged with conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization. Sedarat was accused of transmitting “antisemitic threats” on the internet to people in New Jersey and other areas.

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MICHIGAN ARRESTS

Federal authorities allege that two Michigan residents – Mohmed Ali and Majed Mahmoud – were planning to attack multiple bars and restaurants in support of ISIS over the Halloween weekend.. Three other people were also arrested in the raids.

Officials allege that Ali and Mahmoud bought AR-15 rifles with tons of ammo and scouted locations in Ferndale, Michigan for a potential attack. Officials said the two were scouting locations along Woodward and 9 Mile Road, where there are many bars and clubs, some of which intentionally attract members of the LGBTQ+ community.

A lawyer representing Ali and Mahmoud told the Associated Press that no terror attack was ever planned.

"If these young men were on forums that they should not have been on or things of that nature, then we'll have to wait and see," defense lawyer Amir Makled said before charges were announced. "But I don't believe that there's anything illegal about any of the activity they were doing."

• Read More: Halloween Terror Plot Targeted Michigan Bars, LGBTQ-Friendly Clubs: Feds

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