Police investigate potential bias motive in hit-and-run at Minneapolis mosque
Like this?
Log in to share your opinion with MPR News and add it to your profile.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
The Minneapolis Police Department arrested a suspect Wednesday night in a hit-and-run at a Minneapolis mosque earlier in the day. Police are investigating the incident as a potential bias crime.
The hit-and-run happened just before noon on Wednesday, according to a police press release. A man was in the parking lot of the Alhikma Islamic Center on the 100 block of East 32nd Street, getting items out of his car, when a man drove a minivan toward him at a high speed. The man tried to run out of the way, but the minivan swerved to hit him. The incident was captured on surveillance video.
The man in the parking lot was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The driver left the scene.
Police later arrested a 37-year-old man who they believe was driving the minivan. Authorities said they were familiar with this person, and that he has a history of trespassing and acting erratically at the mosque and in the surrounding neighborhood.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the preliminary investigation indicates that the driver may have had a bias motive.
“We won’t tolerate any crime in our city. But hate crimes and crimes against our houses of worship are particularly troubling because of the very real widespread fear they generate and the potential division they create among our residents,” O’Hara said.
The Muslim civil rights group CAIR-Minnesota said the injured man was one of its staffers. The organization also said that the arrested suspect has harassed worshipers at the mosque in the past.
“This apparently intentional attack outside a religious institution must be investigated as a possible hate crime,” CAIR-Minnesota executive director Jaylani Hussein said. “We urge stepped-up security and increased vigilance at Islamic institutions statewide.”
