Tossed cigarette butt led to Missouri man’s arrest in Islamic Center arson, feds say

Before he drove four blocks to an Islamic Center in southeast Missouri, video surveillance captured a man smoking a cigarette and then dropping the butt in a parking lot, according to federal authorities.

Once at the Cape Girardeau Islamic Center in the early morning hours of April 24, 2020, authorities said security cameras recorded the man — now identified as 44-year-old Nicholas John Proffitt — as he threw items through a glass window to break in.

“Proffitt threw two containers into the Center through the broken window and stepped through the window to enter the Center,” officials said in a Dec. 14 news release. “He then poured the contents of two gallon-sized containers throughout the foyer and down the hallway. Proffitt lit two fires that immediately spread through the inside of the building.”

The cigarette butt left on the ground helped lead to Proffitt’s arrest, authorities said. Now he has pleaded guilty to hate crime and arson violations, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.

His defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on Dec. 15.

The fire

After he set two fires in the Islamic Center’s foyer, authorities said video captured a flash of the fire illuminating Proffitt’s face, Nike shoes and clothing — the same clothes he was seen wearing while smoking a cigarette.

The fire began spreading, and the man left through the broken window before jogging away, according to his plea agreement.

At 4:54 a.m., residents who lived on the Center’s second floor noticed the fire and called for help, authorities said. This was minutes before the first scheduled prayer of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month.

“The Islamic Center building suffered severe damage that rendered it unsuitable for use as a religious center or residence,” prosecutors said. “The first floor was nearly entirely destroyed: the foyer, hallway, and entrance to one prayer room were destroyed, and several copies of the Quran, prayer rugs, Islamic posters and other items used in religious services were damaged.”

“In addition, the fire burned through parts of the first-floor ceiling and into some of the residential apartments on the second floor.”

The arrest

Investigators who discovered the security camera in the Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority parking lot found the discarded Newport brand cigarette butt and sent it for DNA testing, according to court documents.

A DNA analysis linked the cigarette to Proffitt, authorities said, and street surveillance cameras in the area also recorded the man’s vehicle.

When authorities went to arrest Proffitt while he was at work, he had a pack of Newport cigarettes with him, according to his plea agreement.

Investigators said they also found receipts that showed he bought three containers of motor oil, two of which were found at the scene.

Prior attacks

“This is the second time Nicholas Proffitt attacked the Islamic Center in Cape Girardeau, and his third attack against a house of worship,” U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming said in a news release. “He placed the occupants of that building at risk of death or serious injury, and he will be held responsible for his actions with a significant prison sentence.”

In 2009, authorities said he threw rocks at the Center’s windows and at a car in its parking lot. He pleaded guilty to two felony counts of property damage motivated by discrimination, officials said, and he said he targeted the Center because of “the religious character of the building.”

And in 2005, Proffitt broke the front glass doors of the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn, Michigan, according to his plea. A witness said they’d avoid driving by the Islamic Center when with Proffitt “due to fear that he would become agitated when seeing it.”

“Attacks on houses of worship, like the Cape Girardeau Islamic Center, strike at the very heart of religious freedom and observance,” said Assistant Attorney Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute individuals who violently target religious institutions and communities.”

Proffitt’s sentencing is scheduled for May 2.

“Proffitt faces up to 20 years in prison for damage to religious property and a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, for using fire to commit a federal felony,” officials said. “Proffitt also faces a fine of up to $250,000 with respect to each charge.”

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