Star Tribune
Man who torched St. Paul mosque planned to burn other houses of worship
Prosecutors have charged a 42-year-old man with arson two days after a fire inside a St. Paul mosque caused $250,000 in damages and marked the sixth time such houses of worship have been targeted this year.
Said Murekezi faces charges of second-degree arson, second-degree burglary and possession of methamphetamine in connection with a May 17 blaze at St. Paul’s Oromo American Tawhid Islamic Center. Prosecutors asked Murekezi’s bail be set at $200,000, and say there was no evidence connecting the incident to a crime of bias.
“We welcome any arrest in this situation because our community [learned] from the previous incidents that we really need to act quickly to make sure that the suspect in this case is not going to other mosques,” said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN).
According to the charges, the center has been used as mosque office space since 2021. Three weeks ago the building was vandalized by someone who broke one of the windows, and staff had not used the building since. A bus driver for the Head Start School, located next to the center, saw somebody throw something through one of the mosque windows a day before the fire.
Murekezi told ATF agents after his arrest that he broke into the building the day before to stay overnight and look for things to burn. He admitted to investigators that he started the mosque fire, adding that he ensured nobody was in the building and that what he did was “fun.”
The arson was a form of protest for Murekezi, according to charging documents.
He identified as Muslim, and said he burned the building in protest for other Muslims and Americans who must sleep outside in the cold.
“He said that the building is not serving anyone, but the people need it,” the documents read. “Murekezi stated it was a good thing he was caught, because if he was not caught, he would ‘torch another one’ or ‘a church.'”
According to interviews with Murekezi, his plans were specific. He planned to burn the Islamic Dawah Center in St. Paul as well as an unknown mosque in Mankato, saying he goes to those mosques often to rob money from their donation boxes.
Murekezi’s plans to “bring about change” went further. He told investigators that he hates terrorism but is becoming a terrorist.
“He stated people may get hurt or killed with these ideas, and that it would be messed up,” the charging documents continued.
Murekezi’s first court appearance is set for this afternoon. His criminal history dates back years.
Officials say Murekezi was charged with arson in 2020 for allegedly setting fire to a pile of clothes in his apartment. He barred firefighters from entering the room, and threatened to jump out of the fourth-floor window before he was taken into custody. At the time, he agreed to be taken to the hospital for a mental health evaluation.
Murekezi was also arrested in 2020 for threatening his neighbors with a knife, accusing them of being too loud and saying that he would “hurt them” if the noise continued. He was arrested and pled guilty to threats of violence, earning him a year-long sentence that was postponed. The case was dismissed and Murekezi was discharged two years later because he had served time for the sentence by then.
Charging documents say that Murekezi also broke windows at an Islamic community center in Minnetonka in 2021 and at a Catholic church in Minneapolis in 2023. He was in the Hennepin county jail between April 28 and May 15 of this year, and was on probation for criminal damage to property when police arrested him Wednesday.
The fire he allegedly set at the Oromo American Tawhid Islamic Center this week set Minnesotan Muslims on edge, and marked the sixth such incident at a mosque this year, including arson and attempted arson and broken doors and windows at mosques in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Hussein said he and others met with Governor Tim Walz staff on Thursday to request at least $7.5 million in emergency funding for mosques, synagogues and places of worship. Those funds could help secure at least 150 houses of worship, not including mosques, with gear such as surveillance cameras and lighting.
Staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this report.
“In here, it can be a very dark and lonely place, and it can be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Benson said. “Events like this just help keep that hope alive.”
While the incarcerated people listened, they were joined at tables by prison staff, guards, the warden, and others, including Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, who stood against a brick wall. A couple of inmates, who work as photographers for the prison’s newspaper, strolled the cafeteria taking pictures.
When the performance went longer than expected, the warden smiled and gave the performers a thumbs up. He was fine with letting it continue. When it was done, the musicians took a handful of questions and signed flyers. Then inmates were guided back to their cells.
Hennepin County Board candidate Marisa Simonetti was arraigned in District Court on Thursday morning on a misdemeanor charge of 5th-degree assault after a dispute with a tenant of her Edina home.
Simonetti, who was arrested and jailed in June on allegations that she assaulted the tenant by throwing a live tarantula and other objects at the woman, stayed in the court hallway Thursday while her attorney John Daly handled the routine appearance. Simonetti was given a Jan. 9 pre-trial date and plans to plead not guilty.
Wearing a campaign T-shirt, Simonetti said after the court proceeding that she’s done nothing wrong and plans to fight the charge “to the death.”
Simonetti said her campaign for the District 6 seat is going well and that she sent out “a ton of texts” last week. “We’re getting feedback, positive feedback. It’s going to be very exciting to see what happens on Nov. 5,” she said.
An email to Simonetti’s opponent, Commissioner Heather Edelson, was not immediately returned Thursday.
In April, Simonetti came in second in a six-candidate special primary for an open seat on the board and then lost the special election Edelson, a DFLer and former state representative. Simonetti has campaigned as a Republican, although some local Republicans have since pulled their support for her.
The board oversees the county’s $2.7 billion budget and 10,000 employees. Commissioners earn $122,225 annually.
District 6, which covers cities including Edina, Hopkins, Mound, Minnetonka, Wayzata, Long Lake, Shorewood and the northern portion of Eden Prairie.
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In her final season with the Ducks, Ionescu became the first NCAA Division I basketball player to record more then 2,000 career points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds. She dedicated the performance that put her over the edge to Bryant. “That was for him,” she told ESPN.
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