The Bloomington Police Department arrested a suspect Thursday following vandalism at the Islamic Center of Bloomington Monday morning.
Adam Lee Walls, 32, was arrested early Thursday morning and charged with a level 6 felony.
In a Tuesday Facebook post, the ICOB said the suspect damaged a new HVAC unit, the new fence, security cameras, picnic tables and more. Toys from the playground were also damaged, according to a BPD press release.
The center said in the Facebook post they believe the vandalism was a hate crime and the ICOB was specifically targeted.
Walls told police in an interview his actions were not racially or religiously motivated, according to the Herald-Times.
Police responded to the ICOB Monday morning and reviewed surveillance footage of the incident. The footage shows a man entering the playground area at about 1:13 a.m. The police released pictures of the suspect on Oct. 19 to seek help from community members. According to their news release today, the subject damaged several items before leaving around 2:00 a.m.
State Senator Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, condemned the incident in a statement.
“The defacement of a religious center is always disrespectful and unacceptable, and I hope the Islamic Center of Bloomington will see a swift recovery,” she said.
Wei Wang contributed reporting.
