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

An 18-year-old man accused of telling an FBI informant he wanted to attack the Mall of America during the Hmong Arts Celebration on Oct. 24 was arrested at gunpoint Tuesday in Richfield, Minn., during a meeting to buy an AK-47-style rifle for $600, according to a federal criminal complaint filed Wednesday.

In the complaint, authorities say a “confidential human source” exchanged “hundreds of two-way messages via multiple social media and encrypted messaging apps” with Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud from December 2024 through Tuesday. During these exchanges, Mohamud allegedly “expressed his desire to travel to Somalia” to join al-Shabaab and “fight on its behalf and/or carry out a mass casualty attack” in Minnesota.

The complaint says the FBI contacted Mohamud’s parents in May 2025. His father allegedly said “he did not want to share any information about himself or his son” with agents and directed them to his attorney.

In July, Mohamud told an informant that he did not have enough money to travel to Somalia, according to the complaint. He reportedly said he would attack the United States instead, and that if he did, he would not do it “for any worldly matter” but “for the love of Allah only.”

Mohamud then allegedly said in a direct message to the source that he was planning to carry out an attack at the Mall of America in Bloomington or the Valleyfair amusement park in Shakopee around Christmas. An FBI affidavit says he wrote that he could first purchase two guns online.

The complaint says Mohamud said he wanted to attack the Mall of America “because it is owned by Jews.” He said he was inspired in part by last year’s deadly anti-Semitic attack on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.

Last month, Mohamud told the source he wanted to carry out an attack on the mall during the Hmong Arts Celebration on Oct. 24, saying “it would be very crowded,” according to court documents.

In another message last month, the affidavit says, he wrote that he had watched video of the 2016 attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., and thought he could do the same. “I go in and shoot,” he wrote.

The complaint also says Mohamud posted a video on Discord last month in which he allegedly pledged allegiance to ISIS.

On Tuesday, Mohamud was arrested at gunpoint during a meeting arranged with the source to purchase an AK-47-style assault rifle for $600. The affidavit says he left an undercover employee’s vehicle with the rifle, four magazines and 200 rounds of ammunition when he was arrested. The filing describes the weapon as a Norinco AK-47 assault rifle, Mac-90 Sporter model, and the ammunition as approximately 200 live rounds of 7.62×39 caliber.

Authorities say Mohamud “knowingly received a firearm and ammunition” knowing, or having reasonable grounds to believe, that they would be used to commit a felony and a federal crime of terrorism, including providing or conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

This story will be updated.