DETROIT — Evidence suggests a wanna-be Islamic State terrorist from Dearborn used artificial intelligence to help plan a mass shooting while helping scout targets that included Cedar Point and a Ferndale dance club, according to federal prosecutors.

The allegations emerged during a Friday detention hearing in federal court in Detroit as prosecutors successfully fought to keep 20-year-old Ayob Nasser in the Livingston County Jail while awaiting trial in connection with an alleged terror plot thwarted on Halloween 2025 by FBI agents.

Prosecutors argued Nasser is dangerous and a flight risk. They cited evidence seized during raids last fall that uncovered firearms, ammunition, incriminating text messages and Internet searches by Nasser that used the chatbot ChatGPT, which prosecutors said suggested he was planning a mass shooting on behalf of ISIS. Those searches included querying whether Shariah law supports "killing gays," asking "does a martyr go to jannah," or paradise, and researching the rules of war in Islam.

Nasser and several co-defendants also scouted and researched potential targets in person and online, amassed an arsenal of firearms and ammunition, and trained at area gun ranges, according to the government.

Nasser is charged with conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS and conspiracy to receive and transfer firearms and to be used to commit an act of terrorism. If convicted, he could be sentenced to 35 years in prison.

The hearing gave prosecutors a chance to counter arguments from Nasser's lawyers who have said evidence that the Dearborn man is dangerous was thin and that the core of the alleged plot was merely speech. Nasser has spent nine months in jail in an alleged terror plot that lacked a target, a date, an operational plan, explosives or destructive devices, the defense lawyers said.

"...The evidence of the danger that Nasser poses to the community if released is staggering," Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hank Moon, Erin Ramamurthy and Justice Department Trial Attorney John Cella wrote in response to Nasser's bond request.

"Less than 12 months ago, Nasser’s support for ISIS led him to conspire with others to inflict massive casualties in the name of radical religious beliefs," they added.

The hearing Friday ended with Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge David Grand ordering Nasser jailed while awaiting trial in May 2027. The judge disagreed that the case was merely about speech.

“I think it’s about actions to gather the necessary materials to potentially cause great harm to innocent people,” Grand said as Nasser, dressed in an orange jailhouse jumpsuit, fidgeted in handcuffs and leg shackles as more than a dozen supporters watched from the courtroom gallery.

Who has been charged in Halloween 2025 terror case

The hearing unfolded almost 10 months after teams of FBI agents arrested eight people, including five from Dearborn, following a two-year investigation that started with a tip. It led to a series of raids on Halloween in Dearborn and Inkster and, a week later, Nasser's arrest.

In Michigan, five people have been charged with crimes, and all are being held without bond, according to court records and sources familiar with the investigation. They include:

— Nasser's brother, Mohmed Ali, 21; and Majed Mahmoud, 21, both of Dearborn.

— A 16-year-old male from Dearborn whose home was raided by FBI agents on Halloween. The case charging him as a juvenile is sealed, five sources told The Detroit News.

— A 17-year-old juvenile male from Dearborn has also been charged in a sealed criminal case, according to three sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the case. Details about the teen's case were not available.

Two others arrested in the broader terror sweep, Washington state resident Saed Ali Mirreh, and New Jersey resident Tomas Kaan Jimenez-Guzel, have pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support or resources to ISIS. They face up to 20 years in federal prison.

In a court filing on Tuesday, Aug. 18, prosecutors for the first time acknowledged the juveniles charged in connection to the alleged plot. The juveniles, who are not being identified because they are charged as minors, are referred to by their initials: Y.N. and S.A.

What Ayob Nasser searched for on Internet, prosecutors say

A government request to prosecute the juveniles as adults is being challenged and could cause additional delays, according to court records.

In a court filing this past week, prosecutors listed a sampling of Nasser's ChatGPT and Internet searches that suggested he was planning a mass shooting on behalf of ISIS. Those searches included:

—"Retribution."

— "Cop body armor."

— "9/11."

— "Boston marathon bombing (and searches on the Tsarnaev brothers)."

— "Sources explaining rules in war in Islam."

— "Does Shariah support killing gays."

— "Jihad."

— "New Zealand mosque shooting footage."

— "Dying at an old age being worse than strikes of a sword."

— "Does a martyr go to Jannah."

— "Can you run a frt trigger (forced reset trigger) with the hypertap (muzzle brake)."

— "Can i paint my muzzle brake if its tan and my gun is black and i want it to be black."

Nasser wanted to be released while awaiting trial. His lawyers argued Nasser has no criminal history, cooperated with investigators before being arrested and could be released on bond with restrictions, including a third-party custodian and tether.

"There has been no explosive or destructive device alleged in this case," his defense lawyers, James C. Thomas and Michael Naughton, wrote in a court filing. "No attack was ever really confirmed to any identified target or date, and no act of violence ever occurred and/or attempted, or in any way was imminent. Conversations reporting an alleged plan are tenuous at best."

Federal prosecutors detail why Nasser shouldn't be released

To illustrate Nasser's dangerousness, prosecutors revealed surveillance photos and new details about Nasser's behavior leading up to Halloween. They said Nasser and his co-defendants traveled in mid-September 2025 to scout potential target locations. Nasser went on multiple trips to Cedar Point while another group simultaneously scouted downtown Ferndale, a district that caters to the LGBTQ+ community.

A computer seized at Nasser and Ali's home showed Internet searches prior to the trips included "is it crowded on halloweekend at cedar point" and "when does halloweekends start at cedar point." The searches were "apparently in an effort to maximize the body count of their attack," prosecutors wrote.

Naughton, the defense lawyer, suggested a more benign reason Nasser visited Cedar Point. The amusement park's security footage showed him buying Fast Lane passes, near the Raptor rollercoaster and an ice cream parlor.

"They did what teenage American boys do when leaving Cedar Point: they got stopped for a photo," Naughton said. "They took it. They weren't hiding."

Ali's phone, meanwhile, revealed a search for the "Boogie Fever" dance club in Ferndale.

That search concerned investigators because during an encrypted group chat, Jimenez-Guzel said the juvenile, S.A., probably was going to attack a disco, similar to targets of mass shootings on behalf of ISIS in Paris and Orlando, Florida, according to the government.

“Knowing (S.A.) it’s probably going to be at like a club, a disco,” Jimenez-Guzel said.

Amid the visits, Nasser and others were stockpiling firearms for an attack, prosecutors alleged. Ali bought a Beretta shotgun in August 2025 and an AR-15-style rifle the next month. Nasser, despite not holding a stable job, paid $1,491 for an AR-15-style rifle on Sept. 3.

Ali also bought a holographic site “for close-quarter engagements with fast moving targets" and other accessories, including a forced reset trigger that lets shooters increase the rate of fire in a semiautomatic weapon and maximize casualties, according to the government.

Based on chats analyzed during the investigation, an attack appeared scheduled for Halloween, according to the government. Ali and S.A., the juvenile, “sought guidance from the father of a local Islamic extremist ideologue … on this question,” an FBI agent wrote in a court filing.

The ideologue is not identified by name but “has publicly proclaimed his support for the Islamic extremist ideology espoused by ISIS,” the agent wrote.

However, the agent cited a 2014 report by the International Center for the Study of Radicalization that mentions Ahmad Musa Jibril, a Dearborn cleric cited as an inspirational leader for Syrian militants.

Naser proposed living with an aunt or with his parents in Dearborn. Prosecutors said returning home was inappropriate for several reasons, including the ideologue's proximity to the home.

"...Nasser proposes home detention at the same house in Dearborn where he plotted with his co-conspirators — and near the Islamic Ideologue who was one of the radicalizing figures whose ideology motivated them to inflict violence in the name of ISIS," prosecutors wrote. "This environment could serve as a catalyst to further radicalization and violence."

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