FBI says it thwarted 18-year-old’s terror plot targeting Mall of America

An 18-year-old Minnesota man was charged Oct. 7 with a federal terrorism offense after authorities say he plotted a mass shooting at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, in support of ISIS.

The FBI arrested Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, of Richfield, Oct. 6, and prosecutors charged him the following day with one count of knowingly receiving a firearm and ammunition in order to commit a federal crime of terrorism, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a press release. 

According to an affidavit, Mohamud, an American-born U.S. citizen, exchanged hundreds of messages with a confidential source beginning in December 2024. He initially discussed traveling to Somalia to join a designated foreign terrorist organization and later expressed interest in joining ISIS. He repeatedly discussed carrying out an attack in the U.S. if he could not travel overseas.

“Over the course of this investigation, Mohamud repeatedly expressed support of foreign terrorist organizations,” Christopher Dotson, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Minneapolis field office, said during an Oct. 7 press conference. “And because he felt like he could not travel abroad to fight for these organizations, he instead expressed his intent to commit a terrorist-inspired attack here in the United States in Minnesota.”

In March 2025, Mohamud allegedly said he wanted to die a martyr and discussed killing white people, whom he associated with non-Muslims. His messages expressed a desire for police to kill him rather than arrest him after an attack, according to the affidavit.

“I wanna get martyred inshallah but if i get sent to jail and kill my neighbour with fire or knife then ill be sent to jail the police wont kill me ill get raped there man [crying emoji] if im gonna do it in america i better die in any way other than that,” Mohamud allegedly wrote. “Thats why i wanna save up to go to another country or.. get a gun here and just start killing a bunch of white ppl (because a lot of white ppl are kuffar) but how do i know if theyre muslim or not.”

Dotson described Mohamud’s alleged messages as “chilling,” saying they showed an “idolization of ideologically motivated violence, a callous disregard for the sanctity of human life, a blind hatred of people of other faiths, and a cold commitment to carrying out his vision of violence in our community.”

By July 2026, prosecutors allege, Mohamud was discussing an attack on the Mall of America because he believed Jews owned it. He said he wanted to kill 30 to 60 people so that “no one would go there anymore.”

In September, Mohamud allegedly identified Oct. 24 as the attack date and sent the source a link to a Hmong Arts Celebration at the mall. He said the event would draw numerous people he called “kuffar,” a term he used for non-Muslims.

Authorities say Mohamud also sent a video pledging allegiance to ISIS and expressed admiration for previous attacks, including the Pulse nightclub shooting and the 2025 New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans. 

On Oct. 6, an undercover FBI employee posing as an ISIS member sold Mohamud an AK-47-style rifle that agents had rendered inoperable, four 30-round magazines, and approximately 200 rounds of ammunition for about $600.

During the transaction, Mohamud allegedly reaffirmed his plan to shoot people at the mall. Agents arrested him shortly after he took possession of the items.

“As alleged in the criminal complaint, Mohamud took substantial steps to plot to murder innocent people in the name of ISIS,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Daniel Rosen said in the release. “Such threats are taken seriously, and I commend the committed public servants of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the FBI, and my office, who work every day to stop them.”

Mohamud made his initial federal court appearance Oct. 7 in St. Paul, where federal public defender Siri Carlson McDowell represented him, AP News reported. McDowell declined to comment after the hearing. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 19.