Free Republic

Federal authorities have arrested a man accused of plotting a terrorist attack at Mall of America and pledging his allegiance to the Islamic State group. According to an affidavit unsealed on Wednesday, FBI agents arrested 18-year-old Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud on Tuesday directly after he purchased an AK-47 and 200 rounds of ammunition with the stated intent of carrying out a mass shooting. The criminal complaint alleges Mohamud had messaged an informant for nearly two years, discussing his hatred of non-Muslims and his desire to align with an Islamic terror group. He floated the idea of joining al Qaeda and al...

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, Minnesota, during an arranged 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 bi-directional messages through multiple social media and encrypted messaging applications" with Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud from December 2024 until Tuesday. In those exchanges, Mohamud allegedly "expressed his desire to travel to Somalia" to join al-Shabaab and "fight...