FBI Director Kash Patel Says Agents Foiled Four Terror Plots Over Holidays

FBI Director Kash Patel said federal agents disrupted four major terrorist plots over the holiday season but warned that the pressure to avoid any failures keeps him up at night.

Patel made the comments on the "Hang Out with Sean Hannity" podcast. He told host Sean Hannity that the bureau relies on new technology to stop attacks and remains concerned about a potential 9/11-style assault.

"I can tell the American public, just look at the month of December alone last year. We stopped four terrorist attacks in four weeks during the holidays," Patel said.

"Everything from the ‘Pumpkin Day’ plot all the way through the attacks that were going to happen in Texas, Florida and New York — and we stopped them all," he added.

The "Pumpkin Day" plot involved two Michigan men who federal authorities said planned an ISIS-inspired massacre in a Detroit suburb. They used the codename "pumpkin" to discuss a mass shooting.

Patel said the FBI also foiled plots targeting Texas, Florida and New York. The bureau previously announced it stopped an ISIS-inspired plan by a North Carolina man to attack a grocery store and fast-food chain with knives and hammers on New Year's Eve.

The responsibility for protecting the nation weighs heavily on agents, Patel said. "We are the folks that are responsible for safeguarding America," he said. "We're doing everything we can to not miss anything."

Officials stay alert for a September 11-style attack, Patel added. Since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, they have monitored terror groups for signs of revival.

"The thing about terrorists is they're exceedingly patient," Patel said.

The Trump administration modernized the FBI to counter these threats, including through artificial intelligence. "AI was never used at the FBI until we got there. I'm using it everywhere," Patel said.

He described AI applications in criminal justice databases for fingerprint identification and faster arrests, plus sorting through thousands of weekly tips to the FBI tipline.

"Can you imagine how many tips the FBI gets a week? Thousands. If we had just humans look at it, we would never sift through them all," Patel said.

"I put AI in there. We stopped a school massacre in North Carolina because we got a tip and we were able to triage it with artificial intelligence," he added.