Woman charged with throwing rock that shattered window at St. Paul mosque

Mara H. Gottfried, Pioneer Press
·1 min read

An anonymous tip led police to identify a 45-year-old woman as the person who shattered a window of a St. Paul mosque with a rock, according to a criminal complaint.

Officers were called to As-Sunnah Islamic Center on Pedersen Street, off Old Hudson Road, the morning of May 12 about a broken window.

Surveillance video showed a woman at 7:04 a.m. that day carrying an umbrella and a large rock. She dropped the umbrella and tossed the rock at the window four times; it was the fourth time that shattered the window.

The incident was publicized, with the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Minnesota chapter asking for law enforcement to investigate whether the crime was motivated by bias.

Police received a tip that the suspect was named Shanice. Officers who work in downtown St. Paul recognized the woman as Sherrice, who spends time around the Dorothy Day Center. An officer identified her as Sherrice Shatanya Williams and the criminal complaint said she often carries umbrellas and her description matched the woman seen on surveillance video.

The motive for the incident isn’t known. A warrant is out for Williams’ arrest.

The cost to repair the damage was estimated at $1,755.82. The Ramsey County attorney’s office charged Williams this week with first-degree criminal damage to property.

The week after the vandalism, there was an arson at Tawhid Islamic Center of Minnesota at Dale Street and University Avenue in St. Paul, which was the sixth attack on a mosque in the state this year, according to CAIR-MN. A man has been charged in that fire, which prosecutors said was not motivated by bias.

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