Mosque Arsonist Pleads Guilty in Federal Court

MINNEAPOLIS - Jackie Rahm Little, age 38, pled guilty today to one count of arson and one count of damage to religious property, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. In April 2023, Little set fire to the Masjid Al-Rahma Mosque in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the Masjid Omar Islamic Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

"When someone sets fire to a house of worship, it is not only a federal crime, it is an attack on the heart of a community," said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. "Minnesota has endured too many assaults on our sacred spaces. Such hatred and destruction will always be met with federal prosecution as we continue to defend everyone's right to worship in safety and peace."

On April 24, 2023, Little traveled to the Masjid Al-Rahma Mosque (also known as the Mercy Islamic Center) in Bloomington, Minnesota, a public place of worship. Little carried with him a container of gasoline or other ignitable liquid, and after he entered the Mosque, used it to set fire to the Mosque's third floor hallway and stairwell. The Mosque had to be evacuated, including the evacuation of children who were attending daycare. The resulting damage to the Mosque totaled more than $378,000.

The day prior, on April 23, 2023, Little started a fire in the bathroom of the Masjid Omar Islamic Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, also a public place of worship. Little lit a cardboard box on fire inside of a bathroom stall and intended to leave it there for the rest of the building to ignite. Fortunately, Little was interrupted by an employee and the defendant fled leaving partially burned cardboard and a gas cannister behind.

Little pled guilty today, before District Judge Ann D. Montgomery. He will be sentenced at a later date.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Evan B. Gilead is prosecuting the case.