The 18-year-old accused of plotting an ISIS-inspired mass shooting at the Mall of America told an FBI informant about a "small group like 4 ppl from america" and floated asking one of them to join the attack, according to the sworn FBI affidavit filed Wednesday. That detail sits on pages 15 and 16 of the 23-page affidavit, and it has not made the headlines. The same affidavit also says the AK-47 agents handed him was inert, a fact the Associated Press headline left out.

What Prosecutors Charged Him With

Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, 18, of Richfield, Minnesota, was arrested Tuesday, Oct. 6, shortly after he paid an undercover FBI employee $600 for a rifle, four 30-round magazines and about 200 rounds of ammunition. The criminal complaint, case 26-mj-760 in the District of Minnesota, was sworn Oct. 7 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright.

It carries one count under 18 U.S.C. 924(h): receiving a firearm and ammunition while knowing or having reason to believe they would be used to commit a felony and a federal crime of terrorism. That statute carries up to 15 years in prison. Mohamud is presumed innocent, and everything below comes from the government's side of the case.

"The FBI yesterday arrested, and today we have charged, an individual who was planning a mass casualty attack in support of ISIS at the Mall of America later this month," U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said at a Wednesday news conference, as reported by FOX 9.

Who Is in "The Revival"?

Here is the part the coverage has skipped. In August 2026, according to paragraph 31 of the affidavit, Mohamud sent the informant an invite to a Discord server called "The Revival." He described it as a "small group like 4 ppl from america that support dawah." The agent explains in a footnote that "Dawlah" is a term for ISIS.

Mohamud then wrote that after he paid for the rifle and trained for a month, "i was going to ask if one person from group can come to shoot or bmb at mall of america since all of us in America." He added that if none of them could come, he would carry out the shooting "by myself." The agent says the misspellings were a deliberate attempt to dodge content filters.

The affidavit does not name anyone else in that server, and nobody else has been charged. The agent also writes that the affidavit "does not set forth all of my or the government's knowledge" about the ongoing investigation. Whether the FBI has identified the other members is a question the public filing leaves open, and it is the one Minnesota families should want answered.

The FBI Had Him on Its Radar for 21 Months

The investigation opened in December 2024, when a longtime FBI source began trading messages with Mohamud on Telegram, Signal, Discord and TikTok. The affidavit describes the source as having worked with the Bureau since 2017 and as "motivated by patriotism and monetary compensation."

The warning signs started early. In January 2025, the affidavit says, Mohamud praised the New Year's Day attacker who killed 14 people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, and wrote that if he failed school he would "probably save up for a gun." By March 2025 he was writing about shooting "a club." In May 2025, agents went to his home. His father told them he would not share information and would hand their contact details to his attorney.

How the Target and Date Took Shape

For most of the investigation, the affidavit says, Mohamud talked about flying to Somalia to join ISIS fighters in Puntland. In July 2026 he told the source he did not have the money, and wrote, "so i will do attack here." His first targets were the Mall of America or the Valleyfair amusement park "on christmas time."

He later settled on the mall, writing that "its owned by jewish" and citing the Bondi Beach attack on Jews in Australia as his model. In September he set the date as Oct. 24 and sent the source a link to the mall's Hmong Arts Celebration. He also told the source that if he got stuck in Ohio, where he said he would spend most of August, he would rent a 4x4 truck "and drive through crowd."

According to the affidavit, he recorded a video pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi in September and wrote that he had watched the Pulse nightclub attack video and thought he could "do the same thing." Asked whether he wanted to go through with it, he answered, "yes i am 100% sure akhi I would have backed out by now if i wasnt sure."

Did the FBI Arm a Teenager?

The AP's story ran under the headline "FBI says it thwarted an attack on the Mall of America by a teen it supplied with an assault rifle," as published by KTTC. The version of the wire story that KTTC ran never mentions what the affidavit says in footnote 24.

"The AK-47 rifle MOHAMUD purchased was rendered inert prior to the transaction for officer and public safety," the footnote reads. "The ammunition rounds, however, were 'live.'" The Jewish Telegraphic Agency did report that the rifle was inoperable. A reader skimming the AP headline would come away thinking federal agents put a working assault weapon in a would-be terrorist's hands. The government's sworn filing says they did not.

The informant did open the door to a gun. After Mohamud talked about attacking the mall in July, the affidavit says, the source mentioned a "brother" in Wisconsin who sells guns. Mohamud proposed buying the rifle at the mall on Sept. 10, then moved the date himself, unprompted, to the 24th. Defense lawyers in sting cases often argue entrapment, and that fight may come. By the government's account, though, the target and the date were his ideas, not the informant's.

What the FBI Said About the Messages

"The messages this defendant allegedly sent to others were chilling," FBI Minneapolis Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dotson said, according to FOX 9. "Instead of finding the means to kill countless innocent Americans, this defendant found a team of FBI agents there to arrest him and ensure he is held accountable in federal court."

FOX 9 reported that Mohamud was born in the United States to parents from Somalia, and that Rosen said authorities did not believe his parents understood how far his radicalization had gone. The affidavit says that when he picked up the duffel bag on Oct. 6, he told the undercover employee he planned to wait nearby before going home "to ensure that his mother would not be home." He was arrested at gunpoint moments after stepping out of the car.

What Happens Next

A complaint is only the first step. Under the Speedy Trial Act, prosecutors generally have 30 days from arrest to get a grand jury indictment, and an indictment is where additional counts usually appear. The affidavit already lays out conduct the government describes as attempted material support to ISIS under 18 U.S.C. 2339B, but for now that statute is listed only as the underlying crime, not as its own count.

Watch the indictment for two things: whether a material-support count is added, and whether any of the other "4 ppl from america" turn up in it. The FBI stopped one alleged shooter 18 days before his chosen date. The affidavit says he was trying to recruit a second.

Top photo: The north entrance of the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, in 2018. (Farragutful, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)