A Minnesota man who admitted torching two Twin Cities mosques in back-to-back attacks has been ordered to serve nearly six years in federal prison, closing a case that rattled local Muslim communities and put houses of worship on edge.
On Thursday, a federal judge sentenced Jackie Rahm Little to 70 months behind bars, followed by three years of supervised release, after Little pleaded guilty to setting fires at two Minneapolis-area mosques in April 2023. The punishment also includes more than $378,000 in restitution tied to damage and insurance claims, according to prosecutors, who said the fires forced evacuations and caused heavy damage to the buildings.
In a plea deal entered in September 2025, Little admitted to one federal count of arson and one count of damage to religious property. Prosecutors say he first lit a cardboard box on fire at the Masjid Omar Islamic Center on April 23, then returned to the area the next day and set a larger blaze at Masjid Al Rahma. The U.S. Department of Justice said the fire at Al Rahma triggered an evacuation of a daycare and left the mosque with extensive damage.
Court documents reviewed at Thursday’s hearing detail the 70 month sentence, the three year supervised release term and the more than $378,000 restitution order, as reported by CBS Minnesota. The outlet noted that investigators used surveillance footage and other evidence to tie Little to both crime scenes.
How investigators say the fires were set
Prosecutors described a trail of video that they say caught Little methodically preparing and carrying out the attacks. According to the Justice Department, surveillance cameras recorded him walking into Masjid Al Rahma with a bag holding a plastic gas container; investigators later found a melted fuel can in the charred remains of the building.
Authorities also say a gas station security camera captured Little buying a gas can shortly after the Al Rahma fire, while a worker at Masjid Omar had already interrupted a smaller blaze there the day before, preventing what could have been more serious damage.
“Meant to intimidate,” community says
The back-to-back mosque fires shook Minnesota’s Muslim community, which has dealt with a string of attacks on religious institutions over the past decade. Yet leaders say the response showed a different side of the story.
Jaylani Hussein of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Minnesota, who was inside Masjid Al Rahma when the flames broke out, said the fires were clearly meant to send a message. Instead, he argued, they kicked off a wave of solidarity and organizing around safety and support. The attacks were intended to intimidate, he said, but ultimately “strengthened our community's resolve,” according to the Associated Press.
What the law required
Little’s guilty plea came with serious built in prison time. The arson charge alone carries a five year mandatory minimum under federal law. Court filings show that his plea agreement anticipated a sentencing range of 63 to 78 months, according to MPR News. The 70 month term the judge selected lands squarely in the middle of that range, along with the order to pay restitution to help cover repairs.
Part of a troubling pattern
The case slots into a disturbing list of attacks on Muslim institutions in Minnesota. In 2017, a bomb ripped through the Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, leading to lengthy federal sentences for the men involved and drawing national attention to anti Muslim violence. Axios has noted that Minnesota has been at the center of several high profile incidents targeting mosques in recent years.
With Little now sentenced, the federal prosecution is effectively over, and the focus shifts back to the congregations left to rebuild and revisit security plans. Court records show he will remain under federal supervision for three years after finishing his prison term, as reported by CBS Minnesota.
