Federal authorities have thwarted what they have described as a plan to launch a terror attack on Minnesota’s Mall of America, that shopping behemoth located in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area that has been beset by Somali social services fraud cases in recent months and years.
That fraud has generated dozens of arrests and convictions and experts estimate it involved up to $9 billion in tax money. It’s even hit the political powerhouses, prompting leftist Gov. Tim Walz to drop a re-election bid.
Now officials with the government have filed in court documents alleging a Minnesota man, Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, 18, had spent months discussing his desire to carry out an attack.
He told an FBI confidential source in September, “I can’t wait until I kill kuffar man. October 24 is the day insha Allah.”
He was arrested after buying an AK-47-style rifle, magazines and ammunition from an undercover FBI agent.
A report posted online by Fox News said, “When the source later asked why he had chosen Oct. 24, Mohamud allegedly pointed to a ‘Hmong Arts Celebration’ at the Mall of America, saying it would have ‘a lot of people.'”
Christopher Dotson, an FBI spokesman in the Twin Cities, said, “Mohamud met with someone he believed to be a loyal member of ISIS to attempt to purchase an AK-47 rifle, knowing it would be used in a felony or federal crime of terrorism. Mohamud planned to use the gun he bought in a high-traffic public area just a few weeks’ time in support of a designated foreign terrorist organization.”
His charges include “knowingly receiving a firearm and ammunition while knowing or having reasonable cause to believe they would be used to commit a felony and federal crime of terrorism.”
The report noted FBI chief Kash Patel issued a statement saying, “Once again, this FBI is moving more effectively than we ever have before at stopping terrorists before they can attack Americans – with over 1,100 individuals prevented from conducting attacks, over 4,000 foreign terrorist organization related disruptions and arrests, a 38% increase, and more.”
The case began nearly two years ago and eventually involved evidence obtained from a source who communicated extensively with the suspect.
He initially wanted to join al-Shabaab, a Muslim terror group in Somalia, but then changed his plans because he lacked money.
“so i will do attack here,” he alleged wrote.
The report said, “On Tuesday, Mohamud met the supposed ISIS-connected ”brother’ — actually an undercover FBI employee — and allegedly paid $800 for an AK-47-style rifle, four magazines and roughly 200 rounds of ammunition. The rifle had been rendered inoperable, though the ammunition was live.”
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[ H/T WorldNetDaily ]