Mall of America stabber sentenced to 15 years for attack
MINNEAPOLIS — A 20-year-old Minneapolis man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for attacking two brothers at the Mall of America.
Mahad Abdirahman was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty earlier to two counts of first-degree assault for the November knife attack at the Bloomington mall.
The Star Tribune reports Abdirahman declined to speak when the judge gave him the opportunity. When he pleaded guilty last month, Abdirahman said he was inspired by the Islamic State group and that he “went to Mall of America to answer the call for Jihad” because he believed the United States was “at war with Islam.”
Investigators say he attacked 19-year-old Alexander Sanchez and 25-year-old John Sanchez while shopping. The brothers suffered serious injuries.
