FBI Foils Local Mass Shooting Plot

Acting United States Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad and Special Agent in Charge Robert J. Shields of the FBI’s Milwaukee Division announced today that Milwaukee resident Samy Mohamed Hamzeh, 23, has been charged with possessing machineguns and a silencer.

According to the criminal complaint, Hamzeh had been under investigation since September 2015. The investigation revealed that, in October 2015, Hamzeh planned to travel to Jordan, enter the West Bank, and conduct an attack on Israeli soldiers and citizens living in the West Bank. Hamzeh later abandoned those plans and began to focus on conducting an attack in the United States.

According to the criminal complaint, Hamzeh has engaged in extensive conversations with two confidential sources (referred to here as CS-1 and CS-2). Those conversations, which were in Arabic, were monitored, recorded, and translated by the FBI beginning in October 2015.

During those recorded conversations, Hamzeh explained that he wanted to commit a domestic act of violence and, earlier this month, he settled on a Masonic temple in Milwaukee as his target. On January 19, 2016, Hamzeh, CS-1 and CS-2 took a guided tour of the Masonic temple, during which they learned meeting schedules and where people would be located during meetings.

In a recorded conversation after they left the temple, Hamzeh, discussed his plans with CS-1 and CS-2. In that conversation, Hamzeh reaffirmed his intention to commit an armed attack on the temple and discussed in further detail how they would carry out the attack. Hamzeh said that they would need two machineguns so that they each would have one, and also said that they would need three silencers.

According to the criminal complaint, Hamzeh’s plan was to have one person stay at the main door while the others went upstairs to kill the people who would be meeting there. Hamzeh also explained that one of the three of them would have to stay at the main door while the others went upstairs to kill the people who would be meeting there. He emphasized the importance of the person at the door having 20/20 eye vision and always being alert for all the traffic around him.

The FBI arrested Hamzeh earlier this month, and he is currently being held without bond. The case is still under investigation, and it is unclear what other charges may be filed against Hamzeh. The FBI is urging anyone with information about the case to come forward.

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