Fireworks incident raises tensions in the Mankato Muslim community
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After a tension filled Tuesday there is more clarity about a weekend incident which alarmed the Muslim community in Mankato. What was initially seen by some as a possible arson attack has now resulted in a fireworks citation for a man who said he was unaware he had caused any alarm.
However a leader at the Mankato Islamic Center says the community is upset about the way Mankato Police dealt with the matter. Abdi Sabrie, co-founder of the center said the police are not taking the community’s safety seriously. He says they will take their complaints to the city council.
The incident began Sunday, when an individual was seen lighting something on an exterior fence of the center. When a mosque member intervened the individual fled on a bike.
Nothing was damaged and no one was injured, but Sunday’s incident left many scared, said Abdi Sabrie, co-founder of the center. He said some wondered if it was motivated by the recent reelection of Donald Trump.
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“It’s not a good feeling, you know, in the context of political division nationally and just having an election concluded,” Sabrie said. “So we cannot help but think about if it’s related to that, but we don’t know.”
The Mankato Department of Public Safety said in a statement issued midday Tuesday that surveillance footage captured a person on a bicycle stopping in a parking lot near the Islamic Center who lit what looked like “two bottle rockets.”
“The fireworks went off into the sky without hitting or damaging anything,” the statement reads. “Authorities have no reason to believe that the Islamic Center was targeted and there is no investigation.”
Leaders of the Mankato Islamic Center criticized the police department’s statement, and said it “minimized” the fears many in the Muslim community are feeling, especially with past experiences with anti-Muslim vandalism and harassment targeting the center and its members.
Tensions rose again Tuesday afternoon when people at the center saw the individual again in the parking lot and confronted him. A representative from CAIR-MN who was visiting the Islamic Center, called 911, and reported his presence.
The Mankato Department of Public Safety issued a second statement in late afternoon. It said officers spoke with the individual, who admitted to setting off some bottle rockets on Sunday near the Islamic Center. The individual said he was unaware such an act would cause alarm. He was cited for sale, possession and use of fireworks prohibited, which is a misdemeanor.
Even after Sabrie heard of the citations he said he was still angry.
“If this was a Muslim person in a church parking lot setting, this would be national news, why would you come into our parking lot firing [bottle rockets] he should be charged for that,” he said. “They’re making excuses for him left and right at our cost and security. We don’t feel valued as citizens. If this was reversed all hell would break loose.”