Man eyed Minnesota's Mall of America for attack, pledging allegiance to ISIS, federal prosecutors say

An 18-year-old man, Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, was arrested at gunpoint Tuesday in Richfield, Minnesota, after federal prosecutors said he eyed an attack on Mall of America later this month. During an arranged meeting to buy an assault rifle, the FBI and prosecutors moved in, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday. Prosecutors said Mohamud, a Twin Cities resident and U.S. citizen, exchanged “hundreds” of messages from December 2024 through Tuesday with an FBI confidential human source, expressing interest in traveling to Somalia to join al-Shabaab and committing a mass-casualty attack in Minnesota. Authorities also said he discussed targeting the mall because it is “owned by Jewish,” and considered buying two pistols online first.