FBI says it thwarted an attack on the Mall of America by a teen it supplied with an assault rifle
The FBI arrested an 18-year-old man for allegedly planning a terror attack on the Mall of America. Authorities monitored the suspect for two years and provided him with an inert AK-47 before taking him into custody.
Why it matters
The case highlights ongoing concerns regarding domestic radicalization and the controversial FBI practice of using undercover operations and sting tactics to disrupt potential terror plots.
MINNEAPOLIS -- FBI agents thwarted a terror attack by a teenager on the Mall of America after monitoring him for nearly two years and ultimately supplying him with the AK-47 he planned to use, authorities said Wednesday.
The 18-year-old had been on the FBI's radar since December 2024, when he began trading messages with a confidential informant. A criminal complaint says he initially expressed an interest in traveling to Somalia to fight for al-Shabab militants. As his plans to instead attack the mall solidified, the complaint says, agents sold him the gun and ammunition on Tuesday and arrested him on the spot.
“This was a radicalized young man who needed to be watched,” U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said. Agents “were able to detect a threat, and disrupt it, before the defendant carried out his intention to kill, in his words, maybe 30 to 60 people.”
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