The FBI says it arrested an 18-year-old Minnesota man accused of plotting an ISIS-inspired mass shooting at the Mall of America.
Federal authorities identified the suspect as Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud. According to court documents cited by Fox News and Fortune, he allegedly pledged allegiance to ISIS and discussed carrying out a mass shooting at the mall. Fox News reported that he allegedly spent months discussing plans for an attack before buying an AK-47-style rifle, four magazines and roughly 200 rounds of ammunition from an undercover FBI employee on Tuesday. The rifle had been rendered inoperable, though the ammunition was live.
Fortune reported that agents sold him the rifle and ammunition and arrested him on the spot after months of text messages with a confidential informant. The report said Mohamud was arrested Tuesday in a public park in Richfield, several miles northwest of the Mall of America, after he paid $600 to an undercover FBI employee posing as a member of ISIS for an AK-47 and 200 rounds of ammunition.
Fox News said FBI Director Kash Patel stated that Mohamud '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.'
Amy Klobuchar praised law enforcement after the arrest. Fox News identified her as the Democratic nominee for Minnesota governor and said she is running against Republican Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth in the November gubernatorial election. Klobuchar said, 'I'm grateful for the heroic work of law enforcement that prevented a mass shooting and terrorist attack at the Mall of America.' She added: 'This shows why we continue to need major coordinated investments in anti-terrorism and local law enforcement to stop attacks like these.'
Fortune quoted U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen saying, 'This was a radicalized young man who needed to be watched,' and that agents were able to detect a threat and disrupt it before the defendant carried out his intention to kill, in his words, 'maybe 30 to 60 people.' Breitbart also quoted 'U.S. Attorney Dan Rosen' saying agents were able to detect a threat and disrupt it before the defendant carried out his intention to kill, in his words, 'maybe 30 to 60 people.'
The case is another reminder that public safety is not an abstract campaign talking point. When the threat is an alleged terror plot at a major shopping center, the first duty of government is order, intelligence, and enforcement — not slogans. Capital, commerce, and everyday liberty depend on law enforcement that can stop violence before it reaches the public.
