Federal authorities said Wednesday that they derailed a plot by a man who pledged loyalty to ISIS and had planned a mass shooting attack on the Mall of America in Minnesota.
Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, 18, was charged with obtaining a firearm with intent to commit a crime of terrorism.
He was arrested on Tuesday when he showed up to buy an AK-47 and ammunition from an undercover FBI employee.
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In messages to an FBI informant, he said he hoped to slay as many as 60 people and he targeted the Mall of America because he thought it had Jewish owners, prosecutors said.
He thought he could emulate murderous mass attacks on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando and Bondi Beach in Australia.
“This individual allegedly obtained a weapon he hoped to use in a mass casualty attack in support of ISIS, but this FBI arrested him and put a stop to his plans,” said FBI Director Kash Patel.
Mr. Mohamud had his first court appearance Wednesday and was ordered detained. The Washington Times has sought comment from the federal public defender listed as his lawyer.
The FBI had been tracking Mr. Mohamud since late 2024, and had a confidential source who was in communication with him via social media.
Mr. Mohamud first said he hoped to travel to Somalia and join al-Shabaab, a terrorist organization. But he said if he couldn’t scrape together the money, he would attack a target in Minnesota.
“That’s 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 people are kuffar) but how do I know if theyre [sic] Muslim or not,” he wrote in one 2025 message submitted as evidence in court documents.
Kuffar is a term for non-Muslims.
Later in 2025, Mr. Mohamud said in another message that he now wanted to go to Somalia and assist ISIS, also known as the Islamic State.
By this summer, he said he didn’t have enough money to travel “so I will do attack here.”
He pledged allegiance to ISIS in a video last month, according to court documents
Authorities said he had set Oct. 24 as the date of his attack. He picked it because he thought there would be “a bunch of Asians.” The mall was slated to host a Hmong arts celebration that day.
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