The FBI has arrested and charged a 17-year-old from McKinney, Texas, who federal investigators say planned to assassinate Republican Congressman Keith Self at an event last Saturday, WFAA reported Wednesday.
According to WFAA, federal investigators said the teenager was also planning to carry out a t*rrorist attack in North Texas on behalf of a foreign t*rrorist group. The suspect was arrested on October 5 after acquiring a firearm, federal law enforcement sources told the station.
#BREAKING: The FBI has arrested and charged a 17-year-old boy from McKinney for planning to assassinate Congressman Keith Self, a Republican from Collin County. https://t.co/mTpfKSLhwq
— Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) October 21, 2026
Sources told WFAA that the teen had been radicalized recently and was already being monitored by federal agents before the arrest. The suspect remains in federal custody, and his name has not been publicly released, the station reported. Daily Beltway is not naming the juvenile, and no court filings in the case had been made public as of Wednesday evening.
Self: “Getting messy”
Self, a McKinney Republican and 25-year Army veteran, responded in a statement to WFAA. “Protecting our Constitutional Republic from radical Islam is getting messy,” Self said. “I served in the military for 25 years with the mindset that defending freedom was worth the sacrifice. Our elected leaders should govern with that same mindset.”
Self told WFAA he is confident in his security team. Members of Congress receive a security stipend they can use for personal protection, according to the station.
Asked whether his public stance against radical Islam made him a target, Self was careful not to go beyond the evidence. “If it’s ISIS related, you kind of have to believe that. I can’t prove that. I don’t know that for sure,” he told WFAA. “But you have to follow the [old saying] if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck.”
A congressman who has taken on Sharia law
Self has been one of the most outspoken members of Congress on Islamic extremism. Last month he introduced a non-binding resolution that denounces Sharia law and opposes its implementation in the United States, according to WFAA. Last December, he co-founded the “Sharia-Free America Caucus” with Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, the station reported. The caucus says its mission is “to oppose the influence of Sharia law in the United States and assert its incompatibility with the U.S. Constitution and Western values.”
His district has also been at the center of a local fight over a new mosque. In August, the McKinney City Council approved the McKinney Islamic Association’s plans over protests from some residents, saying the project complied with local laws, WFAA reported.
KVUE, which aired the report, said federal sources described the teenager as planning the attack for last weekend. JFeed and Raw Story also reported the arrest Wednesday, citing the WFAA reporting.
Part of a dangerous pattern
The alleged plot is the latest in a string of threats against elected officials from both parties. WFAA noted the 2011 shooting of Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords in Arizona, the 2017 shooting that critically wounded Republican Rep. Steve Scalise at a congressional baseball practice, and the October 2022 hammer attack on Paul Pelosi inside the San Francisco home of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
What has not been confirmed: the FBI had not issued a public statement on the case as of Wednesday evening, and the specific federal charges have not been released. The details of the alleged plan come from federal law enforcement sources speaking to WFAA.
Self is running for a third term representing parts of North Texas. If the reporting holds up, federal agents stopped an armed teenager before he could act on a plan to kill a sitting member of Congress, and the case deserves a full public accounting from the Justice Department.
Sources
- WFAA: FBI arrests 17-year-old accused of plotting to assassinate a North Texas congressman
- KVUE: FBI arrests 17-year-old accused of plotting to assassinate a Texas congressman
- JFeed
- Raw Story via DNYUZ
- Jason Whitely (WFAA) on X
Sources cited
Sources
- Original post: Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) on X, Oct 21, 2026
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