Man set fire to two mosques, vandalized Ilhan Omar’s office and then targeted 'Somali Mall'

An individual is suspected of setting fire to two Minneapolis mosques last week and going on to vandalize U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar's (D-MN) office, before moving on to a shopping center known as the Somali Mall, federal authorities reported.

Jackie Rahm Little, 36, was charged via warrant at the end of last week in connection with all three attacks that are being treated by the federal authorities as hate crimes, WCCO reported. The motive hasn't been revealed, but FBI, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara confidently believe it was hate-related as they were all designed to "inflict terror onto the Muslim community."

One fire was at Masjid Al Rahma Islamic Center on April 23 and Masjid Al Rahma the following day. According to a representative of the latter cited "tens of thousands of dollars" in damages, the complaint states.

A local Minnesota site, "Bring Me The News" noted that the federal criminal complaint that was filed on Sunday said that he spray-painted "500" on the door of the federal office of Rep. Omar in Jan. 2023.

The same number was spray-painted on the side of a patrol car assigned to a Somali officer with the Minneapolis P.D. and in the entry of the Somali Mall marketplace entry.

To some Christians, the number 500 means blessings from a divine realm or a guardian angel, the Ministry of Numerology claims.

In the Bible, Esther 9:5-6 mentions 500 as an indicator of wealth and number of enemies slain.

Little was ultimately arrested in Mankato over the weekend.

The complaint cited Little's mother, who revealed to investigators that he "extensively harassed a Muslim female" in the past and "has had a fascination with fire from a young age." She confessed that she suspected he was responsible for "several unreported arson events."

His mother was also the one who identified her son through surveillance footage. The Plymouth police also recognized him from another arson incident.

"As far as I'm concerned, you know, we're going to assume that this was motivated by hate, this was motivated by bias," O'Hara said.

When he was arrested, Little was going to a mental health facility. The transportation to the facility was overseen by the County Sheriff's Office, who connected the dots, the report explained.

"The attentiveness of a dispatcher realized that this was the person that we were interested in making an arrest," O'Hara said.