McKinney, Texas Teen Accused of ISIS Plot to Assassinate Rep. Keith Self at a Chili Cookoff

A 17-year-old from McKinney, Texas is in federal custody after the FBI arrested and charged him in an alleged ISIS-inspired plot to assassinate U.S. Rep. Keith Self at a public event in North Texas, federal law enforcement sources told WFAA, the Dallas ABC affiliate that first reported the arrest on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 21.

The sources told WFAA that the teenager had been radicalized online in a short period of time and was already being monitored by federal agents. He was arrested on Oct. 5, after he acquired a firearm. Investigators say he had planned to shoot Self at a chili cookoff on Saturday, Oct. 17, and that he also planned a separate terrorist attack in North Texas on behalf of the Islamic State.

The teenager has not been publicly named, and he remains in federal custody. WFAA did not name a specific statute or formal charge title in its report. Every detail of the alleged plot made public so far comes from law enforcement sources speaking to WFAA and from Self himself, so the charges should be read as allegations, not findings.

Self says he learned of the plot after the arrest

Self, a Republican who represents Texas's 3rd Congressional District and lives in McKinney, told CBS News Texas that he first learned of the threat after federal authorities told him they had arrested someone who wanted notoriety and planned to shoot at him. "When we knew about it, they had him," Self said. He told the Washington Examiner on Thursday that the U.S. Capitol Police notified him of the plot and had been in contact with the FBI about comments the teenager had made.

On Wednesday he posted a statement on X. "I am grateful to the FBI and law enforcement for stopping this threat," he wrote. "My family and I are safe, and I remain focused on serving the people of Texas' 3rd District." In a statement to WFAA he added: "Protecting our Constitutional Republic from radical Islam is getting messy. I served in the military for 25 years with the mindset that defending freedom was worth the sacrifice."

Self told Newsmax on Thursday that he believes he was targeted because he opposes Shariah, and he pointed to the public fight in McKinney over approval of a new mosque as one reason he became a target. Self co-founded the Sharia-Free America Caucus in Congress with Rep. Chip Roy in December 2025, and he has led legislation against Islamic extremism and Shariah law. He is a 25-year Army veteran and is running for a third term.

What happens next

Federal prosecutors have not said in public what happens next in the case, and the teenager's age means parts of the process may stay closed. Threats against members of Congress are, in Self's own words to CBS News Texas, more routine than most people would think, but he said earlier threats against him had never reached this level and had never led to an arrest. For McKinney, a fast-growing Collin County city about 30 miles north of Dallas, the case lands close to home: the congressman, the teenager and the cookoff are all local.