St. Paul will soon upgrade security for local houses of worship after vandals struck a Twin Cities mosque for the sixth time this year, setting Minnesota's Muslim community on edge.
The City Council on Wednesday approved an emergency appropriation of $30,000 in federal American Rescue Plan dollars toward "Project PEACE — Technology and Equipment as a Response to Violence."
The city defines an emergency that requires an appropriation as an "unforeseen situation affecting life, health, property, or the public peace or welfare that requires immediate council action." Although Project PEACE normally focuses on gun violence, the money is being moved to specific funds for the initiative to buy audio and video equipment for many houses of worship.
Mayor Melvin Carter signed the resolution Thursday.
"This is an emergency action we're taking to improve public safety in critical community spaces, like our places of worship," Carter said in a statement. "If you show up with the intent to do harm, know that you're going to be on camera."
The move comes just more than a week after a fire set inside the Tawhid Islamic Center of Minnesota in St. Paul caused more than $250,000 in damage. Of the six Minnesota mosques vandalized in recent months, two were in St. Paul.
Carter said at the time that the city would be among the first to invest in placing security cameras at every mosque.
Brooke Blakey, director for Office of Neighborhood Safety which manages Project PEACE, presented the resolution asking for the aid at Wednesday's City Council meeting. Blakey told council members that the money was needed in response to violence in recent weeks that has affected mosques and other community institutions.