FBI foils Mall of America plot
Feds say an 18-year-old American, parents from Somalia, Sheikh Doun Abdu'ali Mohammed, had been on the counterterrorism radar since 2024, with a confidential source reading hundreds of his messages the whole time. He pledged to ISIS a year ago and wanted to go fight overseas, wrote "I want to fight in Somalia to support ISIS." Then in July he couldn't afford the flight, so plan B was Minnesota: the Mall of America on October 24th, Hmong Arts celebration, targeting "Chinese, Vietnamese and other non-Muslims attending that event." Aiming for 30 to 60 people, 100 percent committed, allegedly. Told an undercover agent he picked the mall because it's "owned by Jews," then bought an AK-47 and 200 rounds in Richfield, south of Minneapolis, and got arrested in a public park. Investigators think he acted alone. durk
Transcript (en)
We've got some breaking news happening. Yep. The DOJ announcing that the FBI has busted an ISIS-inspired plot to, quote, shoot up Minnesota's Mall of America. One suspect you see there on your screen under arrest. Let's go to Garrett Tenney. He's in Minneapolis with the latest. Garrett. Yeah, John, this was a mass casualty attack that this individual was planning. And prosecutors have identified it as an 18-year-old American citizen whose parents are from Somalia. His name is Sheikh Doun Abdu'ali Mohammed. Now, court documents indicate that Mohammed had been the focus of a counterterrorism investigation going back to 2024. And since then, investigators had been moderating his communications with a confidential source, hundreds of messages across social media and encrypted messaging platforms. Mohammed pledged his allegiance to ISIS a year ago, according to prosecutors, and wanted to travel overseas to fight for ISIS. In one message, he allegedly wrote, I want to fight in Somalia to support ISIS But according to the criminal complaint in July Mohammed sent messages indicating he couldn afford to pay for a flight overseas and instead planned to commit a terror attack here in Minnesota Eventually he allegedly made a plan to carry out a mass terror attack at the Mall of America. And according to court documents, he was planning to carry out that attack on October 24th during a Hmong Arts celebration at the Mall and said he intended to kill, quote, Chinese, Vietnamese and other non-Muslims attending that event. In other messages, Mohammed allegedly said he was 100 percent committed to carrying out this attack and intended to kill maybe 30 to 60 people. Prosecutors say yesterday, Mohammed met with an undercover FBI agent who he believed was a loyal member of ISIS to buy an AK-47 and 200 rounds of ammunition. During that meeting, he allegedly told the agent he was targeting the Mall of America because it's, quote, owned by Jews. After he bought the gun, he was immediately arrested in a public park in the city of Richfield, just south of Minneapolis. At this point, investigators believe Mohammed acted alone.
