According to federal authorities, a Minnesota man was indicted on one count of arson and one count of damage to religious property for setting fire to a mosque.
Court documents indicate that on April 23, at approximately 7:00 p.m., Jackie Rahm Little, 36, started a fire in the bathroom of the Masjid Omar Islamic Center.
On April 24, just before 7:00 p.m., Little was captured on surveillance video entering the Masjid Al-Rahma. Shortly thereafter, a fire broke out on the third floor of the mosque, and the building was evacuated.
Little, arrested in Mankato on April 29, was arraigned Thursday in U.S. District Court. Little is in custody pending a bond hearing.
Little is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The FBI, the ATF, the Minneapolis Police Department and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Manda M. Sertich for the District of Minnesota, Trial Attorney Justin Sher of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, and Special Litigation Counsel Samantha Trepel of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.