The FBI and Department of Justice announced Wednesday that they arrested and charged 18-year-old Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud for allegedly plotting a terror attack in which he hoped to murder “maybe 30-60 people insha Allah.” The investigation, which the FBI conducted over the course of nearly two years, led to Mohamud’s arrest Tuesday in Richfield, Minnesota.
An FBI affidavit submitted in support of the complaint asserts Mohamud’s growing obsession with Islamic terror organizations and his desire to relocate to Somalia, “the ‘homeland’ of his parents,” and fight for al-Shabaab, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization (FTO).
Mohamud later determined to join the Islamic State (ISIS), but ultimately decided to carry out a terror attack on U.S. soil since he lacked the funds to travel to Somalia. An FBI confidential human source maintained contact with Mohamud throughout the investigation via a plethora of messaging apps, including encrypted services like Telegram and Signal.
In these messages, say court documents, Mohamud allegedly described himself as “100% sure” and “100% commited [sic]” to carrying out the attack and “dying for the sake of Allah only.” He also allegedly cited a number of other terror attacks as inspiration for his plot.
On Tuesday, Mohamud allegedly purchased an AK-47 rifle, four 30-round magazines, and 200 rounds of ammunition with the intent “to commit a felony and a Federal crime of terrorism.” The “seller” of the firearm, however, was an FBI undercover employee (UCE) who claimed to be an ISIS member.
At the meeting, Mohamud told the undercover officer “that he explored different FTOs, including al-Shabaab, al Qaeda, and ISIS, before determining that he was supporting ISIS,” according to the affidavit. He “then told the UCE that he planned to conduct a shooting at a kuffar festival at the Mall of America” because the facility “was owned by jewish [sic].” He also allegedly stated he was angry at the bad treatment of Muslims in the wake of the ‘San Diego attack’ as one of his motivating reasons for wanting to attack the kuffar.”
After the purchase, the FBI immediately took Mohamud into custody.
Images from the affidavit allegedly show Mohamud sending ISIS propaganda videos and “pledging his Allegiance to ISIS.” According to the document, messages from Mohamud discuss him wanting to run down Americans in a “4×4 truck,” being “very proud to even have an opportunity” to commit an act of terrorism,” and being unable to “wait until I kill kufffar man.” The affidavit shows Mohamud pondering the possibility of working with a fellow terrorist, although authorities believe he was acting alone.
During a joint DOJ/FBI press conference, U.S. Attorney Dan Rosen noted the FBI attempted to discuss Mohamud’s alleged radicalization with his father and mother but “those attempts were rebuffed by the parents.” Rosen confirmed Mohamud was born in the United States and holds U.S. citizenship and indicated the Mohamud’s parents were from Somalia.
Federal sources reportedly stated Mohamud’s parents are Somali immigrants who came to the United States via New York in 2000 and were naturalized in 2010 and 2017, according to Fox News. As Peter Schweizer has reported, President Barack Obama oversaw a lax naturalization process calibrated to ram through applications and sideline vetting safeguards, a strategy previously employed by President Bill Clinton and continued by President Joe Biden.
During the press conference, Rosen declined to give details when asked, “How important is … the mosque, the school he attended? … Are we digging on the ground to see the type of connections he has in this community?” He did, however, say that “the question … is a good one.” Rosen also noted he is “unaware of any particular gang affiliation for this defendant.” Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said he was “horrified” by the details in the affidavit and decried Mohamud’s “hatred for this country.”
“I firmly believe the United States of America is the best country in the world,” Hodges said. “Are we perfect? Absolutely not. But it’s time that we start teaching our young people that this is a great country.” The Daily Wire reported that “in 2025, eight of the 11 alleged actors involved in seven ISIS-inspired attacks or disrupted plots in the United States were teenagers.”
Somali gang violence has erupted in Minnesota recently, with a shooting at a high school football game and an outburst of “more than 100 shots in a residential Bloomington neighborhood early Tuesday,” according to local news. Amid the violence, at least one local outlet has portrayed “stereotyping” as the more notable danger. In a different recent press conference, Hodges, addressing the shootings, appeared to argue Somali gang violence should not be identified as such: “It’s 2026. We should not be painting groups of people with the actions of some folks.”
The Minneapolis-St. Paul area holds the largest Somali-descended population in the United States. Of the 84,000 Somalis in the vicinity, the majority have been naturalized, and nearly half of those born in foreign countries have come to the United States since 2010. In 2015 Minneapolis became the first major city to broadcast the Muslim prayer call five times a day.
This connection between Minnesota, Somalis, and terrorism is not the first. In November 2025 Ryan Thorpe and Christopher Rufo reported that “the largest funder of Al-Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer,” via billions of dollars every year sent by Somali and other immigrants originally obtained through U.S. welfare programs.
The Federalist’s Brianna Lyman reported in January that Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar and Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith attempted to funnel a $1 million federal grant to an organization “run by a Somali man whose brother was arrested for allegedly trying to join ISIS.” In 2024 Abdisatar Ahmed Hassan, who was born to Somali parents in Kenya and was later naturalized, “quit his job, liquidated his savings, and bought a one-way ticket from Minneapolis to Somalia” to join ISIS.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin recently announced the arrest of more than 2,200 known terrorists “let in under the Biden administration” and its open-borders regime. The alleged terror plot on the Mall of America, however, raises questions about the vetting process for legal immigrants and the susceptibility of individuals in recently arrived populations to Islamic propaganda from their countries of origin. The Trump administration has implemented an explicit policy of “protect[ing] [U.S.] citizens from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes,” and recently touted a rapid decrease in “legal immigration from Majority-Muslim Nations.”
