American mall beefs up security following terrorist threat

The U.S. homeland security chief warned on Sunday that an alleged terrorism attack might be carried out by Somali-based militants against prominent shopping sites in the West including the Mall of America in Minnesota.

"If anyone is planning to go to the Mall of America today, they 've got to be particularly careful," Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said on CNN's TV program Sunday morning.

Johnson was responding to a video attributed to al-Shabaab appearing to call for attacks on Western shopping areas, including Mall of America, the West Edmonton Mall in Canada, London's Oxford Street and sites in Paris.

Mall of America issued a statement saying they were implementing extra security measures.

"This latest statement from al-Shabaab reflects the new phase we've evolved to in the global terrorist threat, in that you have groups such as al-Shabaab and ISIL publicly calling for independent actors in their homelands to carry out attacks," Johnson said.

Mall of America is one of the world's largest shopping complexes located in Bloomington, Minnesota. The State of Minnesota is home to a sizable Somali population. U.S. law enforcement officials have been concerned about the potential for radicalization among some of the community.

"I'm very concerned about the serious potential threat of independent actors here in the United States. We've seen this now in Europe. We've seen this in Canada," Johnson said. Endite