Arsonist Who Set Fire to Two Minnesota Mosques Sentenced to Seventy Months in Federal Prison

MINNEAPOLIS - United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen announced today that Jackie Rahm Little, age 38, was sentenced yesterday to 70 months in federal prison for setting fire in April of 2023 to the Masjid Al-Rahma Mosque in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the Masjid Omar Islamic Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Little had previously entered guilty pleas to one count of arson and one count of damage to religious property in September of 2025.

"In the United States, the desecration of places of worship will not be tolerated," said U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen. "All Minnesotans should feel safe freely exercising their religion. Little attempted to burn down two mosques. He will now sit in federal prison for his heinous crime."

According to information provided in court documents and federal court hearings, on April 23, 2023, Little started a fire in the bathroom of the Masjid Omar Islamic Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, also a public place of worship. Little lit a cardboard box on fire inside of a bathroom stall and intended to leave it there for the rest of the building to ignite. Fortunately, Little was interrupted by an employee and the defendant fled, leaving partially burned cardboard and a gas cannister behind.

The following day, Little traveled to the Masjid Al-Rahma Mosque (also known as the Mercy Islamic Center) in Bloomington, Minnesota, a public place of worship. Little carried with him a container of gasoline or other ignitable liquid, and after he entered the mosque, he used it to set fire to the mosque's third floor hallway and stairwell. At the time Little set the fire, community leaders were meeting at the mosque to address the fire set the day before. The mosque had to be evacuated, including the evacuation of children who were attending daycare. The resulting damage to the mosque totaled more than $378,000.

Judge Ann Montgomery's 70-month sentence represented an upward departure from the Sentencing Guidelines recommendation as sought by the government, which she held was justified by the serious nature of the crime, the high number of potential victims, and the multiple acts of arson involved.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Evan B. Gilead prosecuted the case.