It marks the fourth time in four weeks that a mosque in the Twin Cities has been vandalized.
The fire occurred at the Oromo American Tawhid Islamic Center, 430 Dale Street N. The St. Paul Fire Department tweeted that the building, which was being remodeled, was unoccupied at the time and that no injuries were reported.
Firefighters arrived at the scene of the “intentionally set fire” about 8:45 a.m. and extinguished it in about 10 minutes, said St. Paul Deputy Fire Chief Roy Mokosso. St. Paul police said at a 2 p.m. news conference that no arrests have been made in the case.
Abdulrahim Doyo, an Imam at the Oromo American Tawhid Islamic Center, said as of 3 p.m. that he and other members of the mosque had not been allowed in the building. He didn’t know where the fire started.
“We have another place to worship,” Abdulrahim said, “but we need this place back.”
The parking lot around the mosque remained taped off late Wednesday afternoon as St. Paul police and agents from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated the scene.
“It is a mosque that has been part of this community for sometime,” said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Minnesota). “And unfortunately today—this morning—this mosque has been completely burnt. This is one of the most serious burning or attacks against the mosque that we know of today in the state of Minnesota. We still do not know the extent of the damage.”
Mokosso said the state fire marshal is also working on the investigation.
“You will be caught and absolutely held accountable for your actions,” Mayor Melvin Carter said of the arson suspect.
CAIR-Minnesota issued a news release saying that the mosque was “heavily damaged” in the fire, and that the cause has not been determined.
“This unfortunate event occurred while the building was being remodeled,” Mokosso said at one of two news conferences held Wednesday about the fire.
Mokosso told Sahan Journal that because the building was “somewhat vacant” during the remodeling, there have been “numerous” break-ins and reports of previous vandalism, including graffiti, at the mosque. It’s unclear whether those incidents were motivated by religious bias or the building’s vacancy, he added.
It’s also unknown whether Wednesday’s fire is related to a mosque vandalism in St. Paul last week or fires at two south Minneapolis mosques last month, Mokosso said.
“We take this very seriously,” said St. Paul Deputy Police Chief Joshua Lego.
Lego said it was too early to say how many people could have been responsible for the fire.
“The impression is, and I won’t argue with it, our mosques do feel under attack,” Lego said. “This is the second incident of damage to a mosque in our city in less than a week, and the sixth that’s been recounted here.”
Carter said he was “disgusted” by the fire and other mosque vandalism. St. Paul police are “upping patrols” and “upping our readiness” to prevent future vandalism and to respond quickly when necessary, he added.
“We’ve said it before and I hate that we have to say it again, but we will say it again and again and again—we do not tolerate attacks against our communities of faith,” Carter said. “This was a mosque that was attacked today, but make no mistakes about it—our communities of faith were attacked today.”
About 18 men knelt in prayer outside the mosque next to yellow police tape about 1:30 p.m. More arrived minutes before a 2 p.m. press conference to show solidarity. Some were members of the Twin Cities mosques that had been previously targeted.
Other non-Muslim faith leaders in St. Paul, including Reverend Frenchye Magee from Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church, also visited the mosque in a show of support. Magee’s church is next door to the mosque.
“We will not stand for this type of act, it is not only shameful, it is cowardly,” Magee said. “If you are intending to attack one house of faith you are attacking all of us.”
“This is a hate crime,” State Representative Samakab Hussein, DFL-St. Paul, said at the scene. “And this is Islamophobia. And this is—I mean, if one Muslim person does something similar to this, we call them terrorist. But this should be a terrorist.”
Source: sahanjournal.com