FBI Thwarted Mall of America Attack by Teen It Armed

The FBI arrested an 18-year-old Minnesota man Tuesday after agents sold him an AK-47 and 200 rounds of ammunition in a sting targeting an alleged plot to attack the Mall of America.

• Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud paid $600 to an undercover FBI employee posing as an ISIS member.
• Mohamud had been under investigation for nearly two years before his arrest.
• Mohamud allegedly said he intended to kill 30 to 60 people, according to U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen.
• He was arrested in a public park in Richfield, several miles from the mall.

Why it matters: The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota is one of the largest shopping centers in the United States, regularly drawing large crowds.

• FBI sting operations that supply suspects with weapons before arrest are legally permitted but have drawn criticism from civil liberties advocates over entrapment concerns.

How 43 sources split on this story

Where they split: Whether the FBI's tactic of supplying the weapon represents effective threat disruption or government-facilitated entrapment is the central point of disagreement.

What’s next: Mohamud faces federal charges; no attorney had been identified as of Wednesday.

• Would Mohamud have obtained a weapon independently if the FBI had not provided one?
• What radicalization pathway did investigators document over the nearly two-year investigation?