Michele Tafoya, Republican Senate nominee in Minnesota, warns about rising crime levels and threats following recent Somali gang violence and a foiled terror plot at the Mall of America. The FBI arrested an 18-year-old American-born Somali citizen, Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, who planned to attack during a Hmong celebration with weapons purchased from an undercover agent he believed was part of ISIS. Tafoya links these incidents to safety concerns among Minnesotans and criticizes the lack of action against such threats.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
The Republican Senate nominee in Minnesota is sounding the alarm about crime levels in the state amid a wave of Somali gang violence and a foiled terror plot by an American born to Somali parents.
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nominee → sound → parents
"I hear a lot of concerns from Minnesotans on the campaign trail about crime, and no matter what form that crime takes, Minnesotans know that they feel under a level of threat that has increased lately here in Minnesota, and in the last week and just today," Michele Tafoya, running as a Republican against Minnesota's Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
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Tafoya → hear → Wednesday
"We saw the arrest of an 18-year-old Somali American citizen to Somali parents arrested for a terrorist — planning a terrorist attack — at the Mall of America during a Hmong celebration.
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We → see → celebration
The suspect in that alleged terror plot is 18-year-old Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, born in the United States to Somali nationals who are naturalized American citizens, law enforcement sources told Fox News Digital.
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sources → allege → Digital
Federal court documents said that Mohamud was arrested after purchasing an AK-47-style rifle, magazines and ammunition from an undercover FBI agent whom he believed to be a loyal ISIS member.
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he → say → agent
The FBI alleges Mohamud had digital communications beginning in December 2024 with a confidential human source he believed was a member of al-Shabaab, a Somali Islamist terror group and offshoot of ISIS.
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he → allege → ISIS
"I can’t wait until I kill kuffar man.
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I → wait → man
October 24 is the day insha Allah," one of the messages said.
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one → say → messages
"Kuffar" is a term used to refer to non-Muslims, and "insha Allah" means "God willing."
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God → use → Muslims
The Hmong people are indigenous to Southeast Asia and boast a relatively large population in the United States.
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people → boast → States
"We have a large Hmong community here in Minnesota as well, and he basically stated that he wanted to take out anyone who was not a Muslim.
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who → have → anyone
He also noted that the Mall of America is owned by people who are Jewish," Tafoya said.
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Tafoya → note → people
"And so this was his plan, and thank goodness for the FBI in Minneapolis here and local law enforcement for catching onto this plan and derailing it well in advance.
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this → thank → advance
This is a guy who has pledged his allegiance to ISIS.
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who → pledge → ISIS
Again, he is of Somalian descent and terror is alive and well and thank God we averted this massive crisis."
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we → thank → crisis
The thwarted plot follows a rash of gang violence attributed to Somalis by law enforcement in the suburbs of Minneapolis.
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plot → thwart → Minneapolis
Police in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, said a shooting during the local high school's homecoming celebration last week was carried out by rival Somali gangs.
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shooting → say → gangs
Similarly, a shooting at a Bloomington, Minnesota gas station over the weekend was attributed to Somali gangs.
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shooting → attribute → gangs
In the latter incident, more than 100 rounds of ammunition were fired.
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rounds → fire → ammunition
"And we have had Somali-related — Somali gang-related — attacks here locally in our suburbs at a high school football game during homecoming, at a Catholic church parking lot, at a gas station, and this is all just really started to peak here in the last couple of weeks.
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this → have → weeks
Our law enforcement here are calling it out as the product of Somali gang violence, and we we've got to identify it and we have to find a way to deal with it.
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we → call → it
Tafoya also mentioned the Somali fraud scandals have enveloped Minnesota this year.
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scandals → mention → Minnesota
"I don't know how you can legislate that assimilation, but we simply cannot tolerate the level of crime
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we → know → crime
," she said ."We've seen it with fraud here.
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she → say → fraud
It's in the paperwork that the Feeding Our Future fraud was largely ... in terms of percentage, probably 98%, Somali people involved in that fraud," she said.
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she → involve → fraud
"What I do think is any guests of this country who commits crime should be sent home with no pathway back," she said.
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she → think → pathway
"If you're coming here to be a guest of this country or to live in this country you cannot break our laws, and if you're an American, you cannot break our laws, period.
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you → come → laws
Tafoya is not against immigration, noting that she's the granddaughter of immigrants and she has an adoptive Colombian daughter who is as patriotic as they come.
But she's not going to stop in her mission to battle crime,
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she → note → crime
, she said, she plans to be an "equal opportunity pain in the a—" to all of them, specifically mentioning corrupt politicians.
"
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she → say → politicians
I'm going to represent Minnesotans and Americans, and so there's, there's not going to be any limit on the way that I see crime.
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I → go → crime
Crime is crime and it's going to be committed by a wide variety of people and they all need to be held accountable and accountability has been in short supply here in Minnesota.
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accountability → go → Minnesota
Fox News' Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
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Melugin → contribute → report
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