Nicholas John Proffitt, Arson of Islamic Center, Missouri 2020

Nicholas John Proffitt, a 44-year-old resident of Missouri, has been sentenced to 191 months in prison for his role in setting fire to the Cape Girardeau Islamic Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

According to court documents, Proffitt intentionally set fire to the Islamic Center on April 24, 2020, which was the first morning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, because of the building’s religious character. The fire resulted in significant damage to the Islamic Center.

Proffitt pleaded guilty on Dec. 12, 2022, to using fire to damage religious property and to using fire in the commission of a federal felony.

He was sentenced to 191 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $551,217.91 in restitution. The sentence reflects the severity of the crime and the need to hold individuals accountable for hate-motivated crimes.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division stated that attacks on mosques in our country are attacks on people of faith that undermine the fundamental right to practice one’s religion free from fear or violence. “The Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce federal laws that protect all houses of worship, regardless of denomination,” she added.

U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming for the Eastern District of Missouri noted that this is the third time Nicholas Proffitt has attacked Islamic institutions, in Missouri and elsewhere. “He has now been sentenced to a significant prison term that will protect the community from further persecution for a long time,” he said.

The FBI St. Louis Field Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Cape Girardeau Police Department, the Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Perryville Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Hahn for the Eastern District of Missouri prosecuted the case with assistance from Trial Attorney Daniel Grunert of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.

For more information and resources on the department’s efforts to combat hate crimes, visit www.justice.gov/hatecrimes.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/missouri-man-sentenced-setting-fire-islamic-center