US: Halloween attack foiled in Michigan: inspired by ISIS

Dearborn (Michigan, USA), 1 Nov. (LaPresse/AP) – The attack foiled yesterday by the FBI in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, was inspired by ISIS. Investigators are looking into whether those arrested yesterday were radicalised online. The investigation began with a discussion in an online chat room involving some of those arrested, people close to the investigation told the AP. The group had discussed carrying out an attack around Halloween, referring to “pumpkin day”. Another person familiar with the investigation confirmed that there had been a reference to the ‘pumpkin’. It is unclear whether the group had the means to carry out an attack, but the reference to Halloween prompted the FBI to make the arrests. FBI and state police vehicles were seen in a neighbourhood near Fordson High School in Dearborn. People wearing FBI T-shirts entered and exited a house several times, including one person who collected paper bags and other items from a forensic van. Police in Inkster, another Detroit suburb, said FBI personnel were at a warehouse in the area. ‘There is no current threat to public safety,’ assured Jordan Hall, an FBI spokesman in Detroit, who declined to comment further.