Another mosque in the Twin Cities is targeted by vandals

A vandal damaged the doors of a mosque in St. Paul early Friday, the latest attack on Muslim houses of worship in recent weeks in the Twin Cities.

The vandalism — recorded by an exterior security video camera — occurred about 7 a.m. at the Masjid Al Sunnah mosque in the 300 block of Pedersen Street, according to the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN).

In the video, a male wearing a mask and holding an umbrella walked toward the mosque, picked up a large rock and threw it at the front doors three times.

"We urge law enforcement authorities to investigate this incident as a possible hate crime," CAIR-MN Executive Director Jaylani Hussein said in a statement. "As worshipers gather for Friday prayers, they will be confronted with the distressing sight of their mosque's front door smashed."

Police officers were sent to the mosque and documented the damage. No arrests had been announced as of late Friday afternoon.

"In St. Paul, we value and care about gathering places of all faiths," said police spokeswoman Alyssa Arcand. "A crime committed at any of them gets our full attention. We are working to figure out what exactly happened in this case and who is responsible."

Friday morning's incident was the latest in what Hussein called "a deeply concerning trend."

On April 29, Jackie Rahm Little, 36, was arrested in Mankato and faces arson charges in connection with two fires at Minneapolis mosques, including one where 40 children were in a basement day-care program.

Prosecutors say the mosque fires occurred after U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar's office was vandalized in Minneapolis.

On Jan. 5, Little allegedly spray-painted the outside of the office door. That evening, he allegedly spray-painted the same thing on the door of a Minneapolis police car being used by a Somali officer and on the door to the 24 Somali Mall on E. 24th Street in Minneapolis a few hours later.

On the evening of April 23, police said, Little lit a cardboard box on fire in the second-floor bathroom of the Masjid Omar Islamic Center, a mosque in the same building as the 24 Somali Mall.

The next evening, at Masjid Al Rahma mosque on Bloomington Avenue in Minneapolis, investigators allege, Little started a fire on the third floor of a small building attached to the place of worship.