Washington Examiner investigations editor Sarah Bedford said the thwarted terrorist plot an 18-year-old planned to carry out at the Mall of America, in support of ISIS, showed a rise in Islamic radicalization.
“This is a pretty wild plot that the FBI uncovered … and shows that the terrorist threat is not something that is in America’s past; it’s something resurging now, today,” Bedford said Wednesday on The Hugh Hewitt Show.
Sheikhdoon Mohamud, an 18-year-old U.S. citizen of Somali descent, was arrested and charged in connection with the plot and has been under investigation by the FBI since December 2024. Leading up to his arrest, an undercover informant reportedly sold an AK-47 rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition to Mohamud for $600.
The 18-year-old allegedly planned to target non-muslims at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, planning to kill between 30 and 60 people.
“If I am the investigative editor on this story, we would probably start by looking into this person’s online history,” Bedford said. “A lot of the ISIS-inspired would-be attackers that we’re seeing in the U.S. are being radicalized online.”
Bedford continued, adding she would also look into any affiliations or associations this person might have within the Somali community. Bedford said fraud was a “big part” of state officials not addressing issues within the Somali community, as well as gang violence and potential “Islamic radicalization.”
“There is a big gang violence problem among the Somali community in Minnesota, and some Democrats in the state have suggested that even talking about the gang violence problem is racist,” Bedford said. “But it’s a real issue, and it’s obvious that there are things about the Somali community diaspora in Minnesota that state officials have failed to grapple with.”
FBI STOPS MALL OF AMERICA ISIS TERRORIST PLOT IN YEARSLONG STING OPERATION
Minnesota Democratic U.S. Senate nominee and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan has sought to distance herself from Gov. Tim Walz after a welfare fraud scheme exposed welfare fraud in Minnesota, including allegations that millions in taxpayer dollars were siphoned through fraudulent, non-profit ‘Feeding Our Future’ and daycare centers. The controversy led to Walz ending his campaign to serve as governor for a third term: Flanagan, however, continued her bid for Senate.
“I think there’s a lot of reasons that you’re seeing Peggy Flanagan struggle a little too much for comfort for Democrats,” Bedford said. “That’s one of them. The record of failure of the Walz administration in Minnesota is another one. She’s increasingly being tied to fraud, and that’s being highlighted in ads that her opponent is running.”