A would-be terrorist was arrested for his plan to commit a mass shooting at the Mall of America in support of ISIS by the FBI on Tuesday. 

The Department of Justice reported that Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, an 18-year-old man from Richfield, Minnesota, was charged by complaint with one count of knowingly receiving a firearm and ammunition to use in an act of terrorism. 

“Mohamud allegedly sought to carry out a mass-casualty shooting at the Mall of America, expressing a desire to emulate some of the most horrific ISIS-inspired attacks in the United States, including the atrocities at Pulse Nightclub and 2025 New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said in a DOJ press release. “The National Security Division will continue to work closely with the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force to track down and prosecute ISIS-inspired terrorists in the United States.”

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins remarked that this is not the first time federal authorities have confronted terrorism-related threats involving Islamic individuals in Minnesota’s Somali American community during a Wednesday episode of “Washington Watch.” Perkins recalled that nearly two decades ago, the FBI began investigating groups recruiting Somali Americans to join al-Shabaab, a radical Islamist terrorist group. 

“Once again, this FBI is moving more effectively than we ever have before at stopping terrorists before they can attack Americans,” FBI Director Kash Patel said. “With over 1,100 individuals prevented from conducting attacks, over 4,000 foreign terrorist organization-related disruptions and arrests, a 38% increase, and more. We will continue to use every resource we have to detect and prevent acts of terrorism and wipe out their networks all over the country.”

Former FBI Deputy Director John Pistole explained to Perkins that the plot to stop Mohamud was an undercover operation. According to the DOJ, “The FBI arranged to sell to Mohamud, through an undercover FBI employee, an AK-47 assault rifle, four 30-round magazines, and approximately 200 rounds of ammunition. The FBI rendered the AK-47 rifle inert prior to the transaction. The FBI arrested Mohamud shortly after he paid about $600 cash for the rifle, magazines, and ammunition and had those items in his possession. During the sale of the firearm and ammunition, Mohamud reaffirmed his plan to use the firearm and ammunition to shoot people at the Mall of America.”

“There have been some … bad radicalizers doing it all online over the last 20 years, radicalizing people who had very little contact — and perhaps no in-person contact — but they were radicalized online to commit acts that they probably would have never undertaken if not for that online radicalization,” Pistole asserted. “That’s one of the challenges that U.S. law enforcement, [which] is also charged with protecting people’s privacy and civil liberties of U.S. citizens [faces].”

Perkins noted that America is a unique country in both the freedoms and security measures it provides to its citizens. “We have these freedoms that we relish, we protect, we defend. We have men and women who serve every day in law enforcement. We have men and women who serve in uniform in the military to defend those rights. And we have people here at home using those against us.”

“But I don’t think we can look at this as just a radicalization [problem] that has a solution when it comes to law enforcement or politics,” Perkins continued. “I think we have to look at the spiritual side of this as well.”

Pistole concurred that only God knows what is in an individual’s heart. “Of course, we can look at actions and discern what may be going on in their hearts and [what] their actions clearly indicate — [whether] good intent or bad intent. But as Paul talks about, we will know them by their fruit. Is there fruit of the spirit coming out from these people or is it hate?”

Perkins concluded that the one, true source of protection is Jesus Christ. “We need the hand of God’s protection. Our country is in such a situation that short of God’s hand of protection and guidance upon this nation, it’s going to be difficult.”