FBI Arrests 18-Year-Old Accused of Plotting ISIS Mall of America Attack in Minnesota

The FBI arrested an 18-year-old man for allegedly planning an attack in support of the ISIS terrorist group at the Mall of America in Minnesota, U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Dan Rosen announced on Wednesday.

Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, an American citizen of Somali descent, was arrested and charged by federal officials for allegedly planning the “mass casualty attack” later this month in support of the terrorist group, Rosen said at a news conference.

The suspect is accused of purchasing an AK-47 rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition to allegedly use for the attack at the mall in Bloomington, Minnesota, according to the prosecutor. He said the attack could have killed 30 to 60 people.

Christopher Dotson, the FBI special agent in charge of the Minnesota office, told the news conference that Mohamud was engaged in a “jihad journey” and met with an FBI confidential source to purchase the rifle and multiple 30-round magazines “knowing it would be used in a felony or federal crime of terror.”

Throughout his communications with the confidential source, Mohamud expressed his support for “foreign terrorist organizations,” said Dotson, adding that he “expressed his intent to commit a terrorist-style attack” in Minnesota. He also expressed an intent to kill non-Muslims, officials said.

Citing court documents, Dotson said the suspect pledged his allegiance to ISIS more than a year ago and also expressed his support for leaders of the terrorist organization.

Muhamud had been under investigation for nearly two years, trading messages with a confidential informant, before agents sold him the rifle and ammunition, according to a federal complaint described by Rosen. He was arrested Tuesday in a public park after he paid $600 to the confidential source, the complaint said.

Responding to the arrest, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the House majority whip, wrote in a post on Facebook thanking the FBI and local law enforcement in Minnesota for stopping what he called an ISIS terrorist plot in the state.

Emmer confirmed that Mohamud is a U.S. citizen of Somali descent, adding that his arrest “is just another example of a large rise in Islamic extremism, which is disrupting our country’s values and way of life.”

“This kind of religious extremism and terrorism will NEVER be accepted in the United States of America,” he wrote.

The arrest comes as a Pennsylvania man was charged in mid-September after allegedly receiving a firearm and ammunition in support of ISIS, said the Department of Justice at the time. He was apprehended in a hotel room in possession of the items.

Jonathan Hunter Kramer, 21, of Valencia, Pennsylvania, allegedly claimed affiliation with ISIS and offered to share information about how to build explosives with other people, the DOJ said. He went by “Hamza Al Rashid” online, officials said.

ISIS emerged in the 2010s during the Syrian civil war and aftermath of the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. Along with the release of propaganda videos that showed its members executing people, the group took over areas of Syria and Iraq before collapsing later that decade.

It’s not clear if Mohamud has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.