DETROIT — Evidence that a Dearborn man is dangerous is thin, his lawyers said Tuesday while requesting bond amid a broader terrorism crackdown in which prosecutors recently secured the government's first conviction.

Ayob Nasser, 20, asked U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith to be released from pretrial detention after spending nearly nine months in jail in connection with what federal prosecutors and the FBI have called a failed terrorism plot over Halloween weekend in Metro Detroit.

The filing offered the first look at a defense for Nasser, who is charged with providing material support to the Islamic State, a designated foreign terrorist organization. His lawyers, James C. Thomas and Michael Naughton, argue Nasser is neither dangerous nor a flight risk.

They pointed to the 2012 acquittal on sedition charges of members of the Hutaree militia, one of the Justice Department's landmark losses in Detroit in the last 20 years. Hutaree members were accused of talking about killing law enforcement officers and using weapons of mass destruction to attack the funeral procession.

Hutaree members were jailed amid allegations they had an arsenal of weapons, improvised explosive devices and a concrete plan to kill — attributes missing from the allegations against Nasser, his lawyers wrote.

"The indictment of Mr. Nasser presents nothing comparable to those: no explosives or destructive devices, no target, no date, and no operational plan of any kind," they wrote in requesting Nasser's release from Livingston County Jail.

The government, however, has alleged the Halloween terror plot targeted LGBTQ+ friendly clubs in Ferndale and Cedar Point amusement park in Ohio.

"The conduct alleged in this case is, at its core, speech — words exchanged online among young men (many of them underage minors)," the lawyers wrote. "The firearm the government has identified to Mr. Nasser was lawfully obtained and stored unloaded at his home" and subsequently removed from the property.

The legal development is emerging almost nine months after teams of FBI agents arrested eight people, including five from Dearborn, following a two-year investigation that started with a tip. It led to a series of raids on Halloween in Dearborn and Inkster and, a week later, Nasser's arrest.

"Mr. Nasser agreed to questions for about 1 1/2 hours without counsel," his lawyers wrote. "Any and all weapons and ammunition are now in the government's custody. Mr. Nasser cooperated with federal agents when they searched his home, and he did not flee during the week between that search and his arrest.

"The weight of the evidence of dangerousness — not guilt — is thin," they added.

Nasser's lawyers, meanwhile, argue several bond conditions could be imposed to alleviate concerns about dangerousness.

Those conditions include home detention, GPS monitoring, third-party custodians, a firearms ban and monitored Internet access.

In Michigan, five people have been charged with crimes and all are being held without bond, according to court records and sources familiar with the investigation. They include:

— Nasser's brother, Mohmed Ali, 21; and Majed Mahmoud, 21, both of Dearborn.

— A 16-year-old male from Dearborn whose home was raided by FBI agents on Halloween. The case charging him as a juvenile is sealed, five sources told The Detroit News.

— A 17-year-old juvenile male from Dearborn has also been charged in a sealed criminal case, according to three sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the case. Details about the teen's case were not available.

The bond request was filed six days after federal prosecutors secured their first conviction related to the Halloween terror case.

Saed Ali Mirreh, 21, of Kent, Washington, faces up to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

Mirreh was in contact with several people in Dearborn, and their arrests last fall accelerated his plan to fly from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Turkey to join ISIS as a fighter, according to the government.

Mirreh's plea agreement with the government mentions how he was in communication with "individuals residing in Dearborn."

Nasser's bond request, meanwhile, confirms exclusive reporting by The News that prosecutors had taken the rare step of charging two juveniles with federal crimes in Detroit.

A government request to prosecute the juveniles as adults is being challenged and could push the group's December trial into mid-2027, according to the court filing.

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