Mosque leaders skeptical as police say incident at Mankato Islamic Center as not targeted
MANKATO, Minn. — Five times a day every day, many gather to pray at the Mankato Islamic Center, but fewer people have shown up since Sunday.
Leaders at the mosque say surveillance video shows a man on a bike lighting something in the mosque's parking lot before taking off.
Mankato police say it was "two bottle rockets" that went off into the sky without hitting or damaging anything.
Adding that authorities have "no reason to believe that the Islamic Center was targeted and there is no investigation."
Abdi Sabrie, who is the co-founder of the mosque, believes otherwise.
"He was right next to our sign and the dry leaves, the fence, lighting them up," Sabrie said. "To me, what the city is saying does not mesh."
Sabrie voiced his concerns Tuesday evening saying he believes Mankato police are minimizing the safety of the Muslim-American community that call Mankato home.
Tuesday afternoon, police said they spoke to the man in the video and he told them he was "unaware that such an act would cause alarm." Police say he was cited for sale, possession and use of fireworks prohibited, which is a misdemeanor.
"You know, it just puts us on edge every time something happens to a mosque," CAIR-Minnesota Executive Director Jaylani Hussein said.
Hussein says Minnesota leads the nation in the number of attacks against mosques with 12 this year and 40 in the past three years.
"We want to make sure law enforcement take every single threat seriously and do everything possible to ensure the trust and community can feel assured this isn't an ongoing threat," Hussein said.
Sabrie says he's waiting to hear from law enforcement and city leaders about what needs to happen to build back community trust.
Mosque leaders say they will be beefing up security with new cameras and will continue to keep doors locked during prayer times.
