Feds arrest ISIS sympathizer Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud for plotting massive terror attack at Minnesota's Mall of America

Federal authorities announced on Wednesday that they have arrested and charged a man for planning a mass terrorist attack at the Mall of America in Minnesota. Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, 18, was arrested on Tuesday, and had planned to carry out the attack in support of ISIS, prosecutors said.

US Attorney Daniel Rosen said at a press conference that “Mohamud has been charged with acquiring an AK-47 assault rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition in order to commit a federal crime of terrorism, including attempting to provide material support to ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization.” He said that Mohamud planned to kill, "in his words, 30 to 60 people."

The FBI began investigating Mohamud in December of 2024 after he began exchanging messages with a confidential source regarding traveling overseas to join the designated terrorist groups of ISIS or al-Shabaab. Over the course of the investigation, he allegedly repeatedly discussed wanting to fight abroad, but said he could not raise enough money. He said he would instead carry out an attack in Minnesota, per Valley News Live. 

The affidavit obtained by the outlets said that Mohamud told the source in mid-2026 that he planned to purchase a firearm and carry out a shooting at the major mall, setting a date of October 34, which corresponded with a Hmong Arts Celebration event at the mall that he said would draw a large crowd. 

He allegedly recorded a video pledging allegiance to ISIS, and referenced past mass shootings that have taken place in the United States as examples of the type of attack he wanted to carry out.

Mohamud had told an undercover employee working with investigators that part of his motivation to carry out the attack was his anger over the deadly San Diego Islamic Center shooting. 

He met with someone he believed was affiliated with ISIS on October 6; however, that person was actually an undercover FBI employee. He paid $600 in cash for a rifle, ammunition magazines, and around 200 rounds of ammunition, authorities said. He was arrested imemdiately.