Son of Famous Poet Arrested in Connection to ISIS-Inspired Halloween Terror Plot

Two New Jersey men, including the son of a well-known Iranian-American poet, have been arrested in connection with a disrupted plot to stage an attack in Michigan on Halloween.

Milo Sedarat, 21, the son of poet Roger Sederat, was arrested at his father’s Montclair, New Jersey, home Wednesday, according to the New York Post. Roger Sederat is a professor at Queens College in New York City.

Tomas Kaan Guzel, 19, was also arrested Wednesday.

Guzel was taken into custody at Terminal B at the Newark Liberty International Airport. Police said Guzel went to the airport to fly to Turkey with hopes of reaching Syria to train with the Islamic State.

Son of famed Iranian American poet arrested in NJ in connection with Michigan ISIS-inspired terror plot: sources https://t.co/BrE1b8ip5x pic.twitter.com/nL4bfSfN9u

— New York Post (@nypost) November 5, 2025

Officials said Guzel had initially planned to leave the country on Nov. 17, but moved up his plans after the FBI arrested two men in Michigan last week in connection with the plot to replicate a 2015 terror attack that took place in Paris.

The plot was aimed at targeting Detroit bars with a heavily LGBT clientele.

As noted by NBC News, Mohmed Ali and Majed Mahmoud were charged with receiving and transferring, and attempting and conspiring to transfer, firearms and ammunition, knowing and having reasonable cause to believe that the firearms and ammunition would be used to commit a federal crime of terrorism.

As noted by Fox News, court documents had indicated there were co-conspirators who were not named in the initial charging documents. It was not clear Wednesday whether Guzal and Sederat were among those referred to.

17) Ali and Person 1 apparently talked about whether Mahmoud might snitch on them.

Then, a week before Halloween, Person 1 allegedly told Mahmoud “we are going to do pumpkin” based on support of people online, such as co-conspirator 1, who had unwittingly spoken to feds prior. pic.twitter.com/QRZ2YLLAfA

— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) November 3, 2025

A report in the Detroit Free Press said that the FBI believes Ali and Mahmoud were “part of a bigger group that d extremist and ISIS-related materials in encrypted chats and on social media, discussed and encouraged terror attacks, bought AR-15 rifles and loads of ammo, held numerous gun training exercises over three months, and scouted out locations in Ferndale as potential targets for their alleged attack.”

In an affidavit, FBI Special Agent Nicholas Czech said three young men scouted potential targets.

“Given that (they) are all under twenty-one-years old and based on what I have learned during this investigation, I believe it is unlikely (they) would have traveled to this area at this time to patronize these clubs or drink alcohol,” Czech wrote.

BREAKING: Feds arrest two more suspects in thwarted ISIS-inspired Halloween plot, source says pic.twitter.com/A3zJOkIZxH

— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 5, 2025

According to the complaint, an unnamed co-conspirator was recorded by the FBI as saying the planned attack was “probably going to be at like a club, a disco.”

The complaint said the FBI was able to intercept a communication from an unnamed individual that said,  “brothers … are planning to conduct a terrorist attack in the United States on behalf of the designated foreign terrorist organization … ISIS. “

The complaint said the plotters “sought guidance from the father of a local Islamic extremist ideologue as to when to conduct their attack.”

Authorities said that Ali, Mahmoud, and three others are accused of having gone to gun ranges as well as parks to plan an attack.

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