Feds lay out case against man charged in Mall of America attack plot in pre-trial hearing
An 18-year-old man accused of plotting a terror attack at Minnesota's Mall of America made an appearance Monday morning in federal court, two weeks after his arrest by federal agents.
Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, who faces a firearm charge connected to terrorism, is accused of stating he wanted to kill 30 to 60 people in an attack at the mall later this month.
Mohamud was arrested earlier this month in Richfield, where he resides with his family, during an attempt to purchase an AK-47-style rifle — which is legal to own — as well as four magazines and 200 rounds of ammunition.
Monday's hearing was a preliminary examination to determine whether there's enough evidence to believe a federal crime was committed, and if the 18-year-old committed it.
Federal prosecutors laid out some of their evidence, noting the FBI was tipped off in late 2024 that Mohamud — then age 16 — was posting pro-terrorism content on TikTok.
"We've worked Mr. Mohamud since he was 16 years old because the rhetoric he was spewing was still putting us in an uncomfortable position," Christopher Dotson, the special agent in charge leading the FBI Field Office in Minneapolis, told WCCO.
A "confidential human source" soon began communicating online with the teen, with their exchanges occurring on multiple social media platforms over nearly two years. The FBI says its agents tried to speak with his parents last year about their concerns, but those efforts were allegedly rebuffed.
"We approached his family to attempt to off-ramp his violent behavior," Dotson said. "When that didn't happen, we continued to pursue him and engage with him; every idea, every target location or method or means to attack, that was the idea of Mr. Mohamud's alone."
The FBI says Mohamud first discussed a desire to travel to Somalia to be trained by a terrorist organization, but his plans gradually shifted to a mass-casualty attack on the mall, eyeing an Hmong cultural festival set to be held there at the end of this month.
"The acts he did, those were his decisions," Dotson said.
An FBI agent also claimed Mohamud, while inside the Brooklyn Center field office after his arrest, told investigators he wanted to die. They also allege he stated admiration for convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, and said his mother should be proud of him for wanting to be a "jihadist" fighter.
Counterterrorism expert Seamus Hughes says this case highlights a growing concern about young people being radicalized online.
"They tend to be male and they tend to be terminally online, right? So these are individuals that are steeped in whatever the latest propaganda is from ISIS, they're interested in this," Hughes said. "They are learning and watching the news at all times, and they're going down a rabbit hole of an algorithm that encourages them for further radicalization."
