Mosque leaders are skeptical as police say the incident at the Mankato Islamic Center was not targeted

MANKATO, Minn. – Five times a day, many gather for prayers at the Mankato Islamic Center, but fewer people have shown up since Sunday.

Mosque leaders say surveillance video shows a man on a bicycle lighting something on fire in the mosque's parking lot before riding off.

Mankato police say there were “two bottle rockets” that were fired into the sky without hitting or damaging anything.

He added that authorities “have no reason to believe that the Islamic Center has been targeted and there is no investigation.”

Abdi Sabrie, co-founder of the mosque, disagrees.

“He was right next to our sign and the dry leaves, the fence, lighting them up,” Sabrie said. “What the city says doesn’t add up to me.”

Sabrie expressed his concerns Tuesday night, saying he believes Mankato police are belittling the safety of the Muslim-American community that calls Mankato home.

On Tuesday afternoon, police said they spoke to the man in the video and he told them he “didn't know that such an act would raise alarm.” According to police, he was booked for prohibiting the sale, possession and use of fireworks, which is a misdemeanor.

“You know, it makes us nervous every time something happens to a mosque,” ​​said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR-Minnesota.

Hussein says Minnesota leads the nation in the number of attacks on mosques, with 12 this year and 40 in the last three years.

“We want to make sure that law enforcement takes every single threat seriously and does everything they can to ensure that the trust and the community can be assured that this is not an ongoing threat,” Hussein said.

Sabrie says he's waiting to hear from law enforcement and city leaders about what needs to happen to restore community trust.

Mosque leaders say they will increase security with new cameras and continue to keep doors locked during prayer times.