A terrorist-style plot intended to kill dozens of people with automatic weapons at a Masonic center in Milwaukee was foiled this week by FBI agents, say federal prosecutors. Samy Mohamed Hamzeh discussed his plan to attack the center with two others, detailing how they would quickly and quietly kill the first people they saw and then methodically move through the building, “eliminating everyone” they encountered, says a federal criminal complaint reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Hamzeh, 23, has been charged with possessing a machine gun and a silencer.
“We are Muslims, defending Muslim religion, we are on our own, my dear, we have organized our own group,” Hamzeh said, according to the criminal complaint. “Such operations will increase in America, when they hear about it. The people will be scared and the operations will increase, and there will be problems all over,… this will lead to people clashing with each other. This way we will be igniting it. I mean we are marching at the front of the war,” he said, according to the complaint. Acting U.S. Attorney Gregory Haanstad called it a “detailed plan to commit a mass shooting intended to kill dozens of people.” Hamzeh does not claim a connection to an established, known terrorist group.