‘Living in fear’: Arson is the latest in a series of attacks on Minnesota mosques
A suspect was arrested on suspicion of arson after a fire last week at a mosque in St. Paul, Minn. fear,” said one senator.
Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said at a news conference that the mosque, the Oromo American Tawhid Islamic Center, was “completely burned” after being set on fire on Wednesday.
The building was unoccupied at the time and no injuries were reported. said the St. Paul Fire Department.
The suspect, Said Murekezi, 42, was arrested Thursday and detained on suspicion of arson, St. Paul police said.
Mr Murekezi, who told police he is Muslim, said he was protesting homelessness, according to indictment documents. Mr Murekezi told police that if he was not caught, he would “set fire to another” or attack a church, the documents said.
The attack comes after a spate of other acts of vandalism against Muslim places of worship in Minnesota.
A window was also smashed at the Oromo American Tawhid Islamic Center three weeks ago, the documents said. On May 12, another mosque in St. Paul was vandalized when someone smashed its doors, Hussein said. No one has been charged in any of these cases.
In April, Jackie Rahm Little was charged with arson after setting fire to two different mosques in Minneapolis. In one case, according to court documents, he was interrupted during the act. In the other, a mosque representative told investigators the fire caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage.
State senator Zaynab Mohamed said on Sunday that the Muslim community in Minneapolis felt “appalled” by these attacks.
“Especially the people who regularly go to these mosques are currently living in fear,” she said. “These attacks are not new. They’ve been happening for a long time. But this year they are more common and more destructive.”
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the number of hate crimes in the United States is up nearly 12 percent in 2021 from 2020. But that data is incomplete and experts say the numbers are likely underestimates.
Of the 1,590 religion-related hate crimes reported, nearly 10 percent were anti-Muslim, said the agency.
Mr Hussein said in an interview on Sunday that he believed some of the vandalism was copycat acts and that many mosques were struggling financially to avoid attacks, noting that the Oromo American Tawhid Islamic Center had no security cameras.
“Our community feels vulnerable,” Hussein said. “We are under-resourced and under attack.”
Amanda Holpuch reporting contributed.