DETROIT — A group of young men arrested and questioned by FBI agents Friday in Metro Detroit are not members of a terrorist cell and were not planning an attack, a lawyer for a 20-year-old Dearborn man told The Detroit News while criticizing the government's handling of the investigation.

Lawyer Amir Makled spoke one day after members of an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested his client and raided multiple homes and locations in Dearborn and Inkster. FBI Director Kash Patel said investigators thwarted a violent plot tied to international terrorism over the Halloween weekend.

Makled said five men were questioned by investigators and that he is aware of two adults in custody in the latest high-profile terrorism investigation in Metro Detroit in recent years. The group ranges in age from 16-20 and all are U.S. citizens, Makled said, including his client, who was still being detained Saturday following an FBI search at the man's home in the 7800 block of Middlepointe Street in Dearborn.

The investigation has not yielded federal criminal charges.

"This is not a terrorist cell," Makled told The News. "There was never any planned mass-casualty event or terrorism plot of any kind that I'm aware of. They might have been on some websites or online chat groups that they shouldn’t have been, but nothing that is illegal."

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit could not be reached for comment Saturday. FBI spokesman Jordan Hall declined to comment.

The lawyer's comments are in contrast to what Patel and other members of the Trump administration said after Friday's FBI raids.

"This morning the FBI thwarted a potential terrorist attack and arrested multiple subjects in Michigan who were allegedly plotting a violent attack over Halloween weekend," Patel said in a post on X.

Patel added in a statement that the FBI's response averted a potentially tragic situation.

"Through swift action and close coordination with our local partners, a potential act of terror was stopped before it could unfold," Patel said. "The vigilance of this FBI prevented what could have been a tragic attack — and thanks to their dedication, Michigan will have a safe and happy Halloween."

In a tweet, Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, described the alleged plot as a "Jihadi terror plot in Detroit timed for Halloween when innocent children should be enjoying themselves Trick or Treating."

The messages out of Washington, D.C., are premature, Makled said.

Michigan has one of the nation’s largest concentrations of Arab Americans and people with origins in the Middle East and North Africa. The majority of the community is in Metro Detroit, while Dearborn is the nation's largest Arab majority city and approximately half of its 103,000 residents are Arab Americans.

"The negative ripple effects of headlines or comments from Washington that don't take into consideration what our community goes through needs to be addressed," Makled said. "It is important that we reach out to people in Washington to remind them not to be so fast and loose with comments.

"Our clients and everyone has been cooperating ― fully cooperating ― with the investigation," Makled said. "They have given statements and been open to allowing their electronic devices to be forensically searched.

"So, we'll wait and see," the lawyer added. "We have a great FBI locally. Agents do a great job, and the U.S. Attorney's Office, locally, does a great job. They may charge, but only because there is so much pressure coming from D.C."

The government has not provided details about the investigation to the public "because there is not much there," Makled said.

"Having a curiosity about global events is not illegal," he said. "Being in those chat rooms is not illegal. If there is a threat, if they became radicalized, or if an (FBI) agent is trying to antagonize or get them to agree to do something that is inappropriate or illegal, then you cross a threshold. None of that happened in this situation."

Makled said his client is concerned.

"What we have is some kids who are U.S. citizens, who love this country, and a couple of them are being held right now," he said. "I don't want the public to get into this hysteria, especially when it comes to rhetoric that is contrary to the residents of Dearborn or the Muslim population in Michigan.

"I want to make sure everybody gets a fair opportunity to defend against accusations in court. Be mindful, Michigan is one big community, and everybody wants to make sure we are all safe."

There have been isolated instances of federal terrorism cases falling apart in Metro Detroit.

The 2003 convictions of men who allegedly had been part of a terrorist sleeper cell in Metro Detroit were overturned a year later when a Justice Department investigation concluded a federal prosecutor presented false evidence and concealed other evidence during the trial.

The prosecutor, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino, was criminally charged in 2007 but acquitted in a jury trial. A remaining obstruction of justice count was dismissed.

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(Staff writer Louis Aguilar contributed.)

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