Man arrested after attempted firebomb at Minneapolis ice cream shop
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A Minneapolis ice cream shop was damaged after someone threw Molotov cocktails at the front windows twice — once on Sunday night and again on Monday.
A Minneapolis police spokesperson said officers arrested a man who they suspect was behind both incidents at Fletcher’s Ice Cream & Cafe on Hennepin Avenue East. Firomsa Umar, 30, of Fridley, now faces arson charges in connection with the two incidents.
The shop was busy with regular customers Tuesday who came out in support and to pick up ice cream or a sandwich. Plywood covered the damaged windows, but the shop was otherwise running as usual.
Owner Jason Fletcher said two windows were broken and some chairs caught fire when the first Molotov cocktail was thrown in. The shop was closed during both incidents, and no one was hurt.
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Fletcher said he’s most concerned that it happened two days in a row.
“Originally I thought, OK, you know, somebody just being mad about something, or just causing trouble,” Fletcher said. “When it happened again, it was like, OK, now we're clearly being targeted.”
Fletcher wondered if the suspect was targeting the store for its 8-by-10-foot rainbow pride flag, which spans the shop’s facade outside the front door.
“I really hope it's not that, and there's nothing that says definitively that it was,” Fletcher said. “Hopefully we can figure out what their motive was.”
A Minneapolis Police Department spokesperson said officers and staff with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are looking into possible motives.
The spokesperson said police first got a report around 10 p.m. Sunday that someone had thrown a Molotov cocktail at the shop. Officers responded and found a broken outer window pane and burn marks near the front entrance. Police received a report of the second incident on Monday just before 1 p.m.
According to charges filed in Hennepin County District Court on Wednesday, security cameras captured both incidents. Each time, the charges allege, Umar got out of a minivan registered under his name, lit a Molotov cocktail and threw it at the window before fleeing in the van.
A few hours after Monday’s incident, officers found Umar in the minivan about a mile away from Fletcher’s. The department spokesperson said he was arrested without incident. Umar is due in court on Thursday.
Mayor Jacob Frey stopped by the cafe on Tuesday; he said it’s a favorite coffee and ice cream spot.
“This is my coffee shop,” Frey said. “I’m here virtually every single day for a cup of coffee or a breakfast burrito. I know the employees here, I know the regular customers, and this is really a community asset. And so to see something really scary like that happen, not once, but twice, is deeply concerning.”
Frey said police are keeping an eye on the area.
Fletcher said the mayor is one of many customers and friends have already reached out to support the shop.
“I can't even respond fast enough,” Fletcher said. “The number of people that have said, ‘if you need anything, call me,’ people offering to help pay for the window. It is unbelievable.”
He said he’s still determining what the cost of the damages will be. In the meantime, he’s getting on with shop business, like preparing for the store’s annual community dinner the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
