Warrant issued for suspect in St. Paul mosque vandalism

A warrant has been issued for a woman who investigators believe broke a pane of glass on a St. Paul mosque’s security door last month.

Prosecutors charged 45-year-old Sherrice Shatanya Williams by warrant with first-degree property damage this week.

The charge stems from vandalism at As-Sunnah Islamic Center on May 12.

St. Paul police said officers were called to the mosque after a woman found the broken glass as she arrived to clean the building that morning.

Court documents state that surveillance video showed a woman carrying a blue umbrella and a large rock come up to the window just after 7 a.m. that morning. She then dropped the umbrella and tossed the rock at the glass four times until it shattered, then picked up the umbrella and walked away.

The document adds that police received a tip saying the name of the responsible woman is Shanice, but downtown officers recognized her as Williams, noting her description matched the suspect’s shown in the video and Williams often carries umbrellas.

The damage at the mosque was estimated to cost $1,755.82 to fix.

As of early Thursday morning, Williams wasn’t in custody. She’s facing up to five years in prison, if convicted, on the property damage charge.

The incident happened at a time when the local Muslim community was already on high alert due to other attacks on mosques. That was the fifth attack on a Minnesota mosque this year.