MINNEAPOLIS — At times on Saturday, the Mall of America bumped with Hmong rap songs. During others, it rang with the jangle of hlab nyiaj, the traditional sash adorned with silver coins. For more than four hours, hundreds gathered for the second annual Hmong Arts Celebration.

A handful of security guards gave the only reminder of a grimmer alternative.

Less than three weeks ago, the festival was the target of a purported terror plot. The Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges that a Richfield teenager bought an assault rifle from an undercover officer, planning to kill “30 to 60” people at the mall on Oct. 24 in an ISIS-inspired attack.

The news shocked members of the Twin Cities’ Hmong community, the country’s largest. For some, it resurfaced memories of assaults on Asian elders in 2020. Others suggested Saturday’s celebration be postponed or even abandoned. Still, the event kept its original time and location.

And at mall’s Huntington Bank Rotunda on Saturday, Hmong artists and onlookers sang, danced and, for the most part, kept the threat far from mind.

“We’re just celebrating,” said Mao Vang, whose mother performed folk songs at the celebration. “It just happens to be that somebody had targeted the event.”

The celebration was the brainchild of Lue Thao, who runs a dance studio in North St. Paul. He held a version of the event in 2025, which the mall considered a success. For this year, Thao condensed the lineup but added vendors, including jewelry artists. He also added a Hmong version of a meat raffle, where attendees paid $20 for a chance to win a whole pig and two bags of rice.

On stage, Thao booked kids to perform dance numbers, from traditional to hip-hop. He got state Sen. Susan Pha to read from one of her books. There were Hmong folk singers and pop singers, a saxophonist and rappers.

“I wanted a variety from the first showcase,” Thao said. “I also want to bring artists who are up and coming.”

In May, the mall began advertising Thao’s 2026 event online.

In September, a Richfield 18-year-old sent a link to the event to an FBI informant whom he believed to be a member of ISIS, according to a criminal complaint. For nearly two years, the two had exchanged messages, first about joining terror groups in Somalia. But the teen allegedly decided to attack America instead.

The Hmong Arts Celebration was his choice. “It’s a bunch of Asians, Chinese, Vietnamese … celebrating,” he allegedly messaged.

But on Oct. 6, as he allegedly attempted to buy a rifle from an undercover FBI agent, the teen was arrested.

The story rattled members of the Hmong community. “The massacre would have had a profound impact on our community,” said Bee Vang, an actor known for his role in the 2008 film “Gran Torino.”

To Bee Vang, who wrote multiple op-eds in support of Stop Asian Hate movement, the alleged plot was evidence of still-simmering prejudice against Hmong people. “We cannot — we must NOT — ignore the anti-Asian racism that underscored, and was at the heart of, the recent plot,” he wrote on Facebook.

Other Hmong people, Bee Vang said, disagreed. They worried that attention given to the plot would contribute to a backlash against Somali residents, already facing increased suspicion over fraud and gang violence. Either way, he said, his community was frightened.

Six days later, Thao announced that the event would include increased security. And police dogs. But it would proceed.

“Now, more than ever, we believe it is important to come together in solidarity to celebrate our culture and community,” Thao wrote on Facebook.

As the celebration was about to commence, nearly all the Rotunda’s seats were filled. Crowds gathered to watch from the balconies above.

Thai Yang, who is Hmong, had seen news of the planned attack. By Saturday, he’d forgotten. He came to the mall on an outing, to enjoy the sunny weather, and stumbled upon the celebration.

“This is a lot of security,” Yang said, glancing at the guards. They reminded him of the threats, but he decided to stay and watch, to support his community and the kids who were performing in the show.

Kenji Vue, who teaches computer science at Metro State University, was unaware of the terror allegations. He came to watch his nephew dance. But he, too, noticed the security, and upon learning of the plot, Vue said the event took on new meaning.

His father, Vue said, died during the Vietnam war. Hmong people had survived generations of conflict and displacement. He figured this event would be a small microcosm of that history.

“Even though someone’s threatening us, we’ll stand strong,” Vue said. “That’s the Hmong spirit.”

As she awaited her mother’s folk performance, Mao Vang glanced around the crowd. She had seen celebrities perform here in the Rotunda. She associated it with stardom. On the other side of the mall, 13-time Grammy winner John Legend was signing autographs, but it was the Hmong festival in the Rotunda. And it was filling fast.

“It shows how far we’ve come,” Mao Vang said.

As he settled in, Yang said he was glad the show would go on. He hadn’t come for this, but he was here now. When the opening number began, Yang sang every word with the performers on stage. He would stay for the next hour.

“No matter what,” he said of his community, “we’re going to be here.”

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