Crime & Safety
Muslim Cemetery Vandalized In Dakota County: Sheriff
There had been opposition to the property being converted into the cemetery, and MPR reports it was vandalized in 2017.
DAKOTA COUNTY, MN — A Muslim cemetery in rural Dakota County was vandalized and religious leaders are describing it as attempted arson.
The Dakota County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday that it is investigating a possible bias-fueled incident in Castle Rock Township.
The Sheriff's Office said that Farmington police responded to an odor of gas in a vacant building around 2 a.m. Monday off of 220th Street West in Castle Rock Township. The property had formerly been a nursery but changed ownership in 2015, officials said.
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Later that day, the Sheriff's Office said it received a call from the owner, who wanted to report damage. Deputies took a report of the damage to the property, which included damage to the building garage door, a broken window, cut gas lines and cut electrical wires, officials said. The owner also said there were tires dumped inside the building, deputies said.
The owner hadn't been at the property since Aug. 27, so the exact date the damage occurred is unknown, deputies said.
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The owner also told officials that there has been opposition to the proposal of the property being converted into a cemetery, deputies said.
The Dakota County Sheriff's Office said it is investigating the allegation that the damage to the building was motivated by bias.
The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations announced Tuesday that it had called on state and federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, to investigate bias as a potential motive for the damage.
CAIR-MN identified the location as the Al Maghfirah Cemetery and characterized it as attempted arson though the sheriff's office has not called the incident attempted arson.
CAIR MN Executive Director Jaylani Hussein noted that the cemetery had been vandalized in 2017 and also had to fight a legal battle against the township to allow the cemetery's construction, citing reports by MPR.
The Sheriff's Office asks that anybody with information contacts Detective Fitzgerald at 651-438-4729.
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