Friday morning, the Washington D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) dispatched a press release to Alabama media outlets claiming the Gadsden Islamic Society, a Sunni mosque community founded in 2011, was the target of an “arson attack” on Wednesday afternoon.
The group, a national Islamic rights organization designated as a terrorist organization in Texas and Florida, also offered up a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual.
CAIR released security camera footage of the incident. The video shows a slender, masked individual in a gray hooded outfit walking up to the building while carrying what appears to be a Molotov cocktail. The individual lights the rag, then gently tosses the device toward the door.
According to the footage’s timestamps, the individual made his move and fled at 6:34 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. Four minutes later, a man and a young boy approach the scene and extinguish the burning rug.
The Gadsden Police Department confirmed the incident is being investigated and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is involved.
“On Wednesday, November 11, 2026, the Gadsden Police Department and Gadsden Fire Department responded to the Gadsden Islamic Society, located at 108 S. 9th Street, after a rug outside the building was burned,” the department said in a statement to Yellowhammer News.
“The Gadsden Police Department, working alongside the FBI and other federal partners, is actively investigating this incident. Investigators are reviewing video footage and other evidence as they work to determine exactly what happened and identify those responsible.”
In their press release Friday, CAIR claimed the attack was a hate crime, and that the state’s political leaders are responsible.
CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell wrote, “anti-Muslim hate rhetoric in politics is out of control.”
“Although we do not yet know the motive for this attack, we do know that anti-Muslim hate rhetoric in politics is out of control. We have repeatedly warned Sen. Tommy Tuberville that he was endangering the Alabama Muslim community by fanning the flames of hate. Regardless of the motive for this attack, Sen. Tuberville and all Alabama leaders should stand with their constituents, condemn this act of hate, and stop fomenting hate against Alabama Muslims.”
The purported “attack” occurred as news spread across Alabama that a mosque planned in Auburn sits on land owned by a trust named in a federal Hamas financing case.
RELATED: Laura Clark: Auburn’s proposed mosque sits on land owned by a trust named in a Hamas-financing case
Allison Sinclair, who hosts “The Rightside” with Amie Beth Shaver in partnership with Yellowhammer News, reported Wednesday morning that the five-acre site at 3305 Mill Creek Road is owned by the North American Islamic Trust, according to Lee County property records.
Federal prosecutors named the trust and CAIR as unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation case, which ended with the foundation and five of its leaders convicted of sending about $12.4 million to Hamas. Neither the trust nor CAIR was charged.
The Auburn Islamic Center, which is building the mosque, said the City of Auburn’s Development Review Team approved its plans in June.
Gadsden police have not named a suspect or stated a motive for the fire.
Gadsden Mayor Craig Ford said, “We do not condone violence of any kind in our city. Every person in Gadsden deserves to feel safe and respected in their community. We are committed to using every available resource to find answers.”
Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.
