FBI Prevents Suspected Terror Attack at Minnesota Mall

The FBI has stopped a planned terrorist attack on the Mall of America in Minnesota. An 18-year-old is accused of preparing to assault shoppers at the mall. Following months of investigation, he was apprehended after buying a rifle and ammunition from an undercover FBI agent.

Authorities had tracked the teenager for nearly two years. He communicated regularly with an informant. U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen praised the FBI's investigative work, stating agents "detected and thwarted a threat before the suspect could act on his stated intent to kill 30 to 60 people."

Arrested in a Park

The 18-year-old was arrested Tuesday in a public park in Richfield, a few miles northwest of the Mall of America. According to the criminal complaint, he paid $600 to an undercover FBI agent posing as an Islamic State (IS) member for an AK-47 and 200 rounds of ammunition.

At his initial appearance in federal court in St. Paul on Wednesday, the young man wore yellow prison attire. Court documents state he repeatedly expressed his intent in text messages with the informant to attack the Mall of America on October 24, targeting non-Muslims. A Hmong cultural event was scheduled there that day.

Suspect Allegedly Wanted to Join IS

Rosen indicated the 18-year-old is a U.S. citizen, born in the United States, with family ties to Somalia. The criminal complaint notes he expressed admiration for recent terrorist attacks in his messages and showed interest in traveling to Somalia to join IS. He ultimately decided he could not afford the trip and instead planned an attack at the Mall of America.

The FBI first became aware of the teenager in December 2024. The informant began exchanging messages with him that same month, according to the complaint. By May 2025, investigators were concerned enough to visit his home. His mother told officers her son had not yet returned from school. She then contacted the boy's father, who declined to speak with the investigators.

Minnesota is home to tens of thousands of people of Somali descent, many of whom arrived as refugees starting in the 1990s. Over the years, several individuals have been charged with attempting to join IS or other terrorist organizations.