Man set Minnesota mosque on fire with day care full of kids inside, feds say
_fitted.png "A Minnesota man is accused of setting a hallway on fire inside a Bloomington mosque.")
A Minnesota man pleaded guilty to charges after he was accused of setting fire to a mosque with children inside.
Jackie Rahm Little, 38, pleaded guilty to arson and damage to religious property, according to a Sept. 17 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota.
McClatchy News reached out to Little’s attorney Sept. 18 but did not immediately hear back.
According to officials, on April 24, 2023, Little went to the Masjid Al-Rahma Mosque in Bloomington with a container of gasoline and used it to set a fire on the mosque’s third floor hallway and stairwell.
At the time of the fire, about 40 kids were at a day care on the lower level, according to a criminal complaint. The kids, along with adults in the building, had to be evacuated, the complaint said.
Surveillance video showed Little riding a bus to the mosque then going inside around 6:50 p.m., court records said.
“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,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson said. “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.”
The day before, Little went to a different mosque, the Masjid Omar Islamic Center in Minneapolis, and started a fire in a bathroom, officials said. However, he was interrupted by an employee and took off, according to prosecutors.
Little was also accused of emailing a photo of a Quran in a toilet to a U.S. Representative and vandalizing a representative’s office, a police car and a marketplace with spray paint, the complaint said.
Little is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 20.
Bloomington is about a 10-mile drive south from Minneapolis.
This story was originally published September 18, 2025 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Man set Minnesota mosque on fire with day care full of kids inside, feds say."
