A Minneapolis man has been hit with federal charges after falsely accusing Black Lives Matter and antifa of vandalizing his home and setting his camping trailer on fire.
Denis Vladmirovich Molla told Brooklyn Center police that he saw three figures running out of his yard before the blaze. In addition, he reported that his garage door was vandalized with spray-painted graffiti stating, “Biden 2020,” “BLM,” and an antifa symbol.
Molla said he believed he was targeted because he placed a Trump 2020 flag on the camper. He told reporters he had an argument at his workplace over his political views a week before the incident.
“It just shocked me,” Molla told WCCO hours after the incident. “This kind of stuff should not happen, especially over beliefs of some sort.”
However, federal and local authorities said Molla, 29, lit his camper on fire and spray-painted his own garage. According to court documents, Molla submitted $300,000 in insurance claims to recover damages for his garage, camper, vehicles, and residence because of the fire. He received $61,000 from the insurance company after threatening to take legal action and received more than $17,000 in GoFundMe donations.
Molla’s two GoFundMe accounts, which had been active for two years, have been shut down, and he was charged with two counts of wire fraud. He was released from custody without bail with a promise to appear in court. He made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court on July 12. Molla could serve up to 20 years in prison for just one of the wire fraud charges, reports show.
According to reports, first responders arrived at the Molla home in Brooklyn Center just after 3 a.m. on Sept. 23, 2020. The man and his wife told reporters they were asleep with their infant and toddler in the house when someone set the camper on fire. He said the fire spread from the camper, burnt down the garage, totaled three vehicles, and damaged the home. First responders saved three dogs and four puppies from the hosue, according to reports.
“Our family’s safe. That’s the main thing,” he told reporters hours after the incident. “All this is material. It’s all material. It’s not as important as our family.”
Molla’s story spread across social media and on conservative platforms.
“This is a message being sent by the far left, and I think people are beginning to see that arsonist behavior, looting, even murder — none of it is off the table,” Fox News host Laura Ingraham said at the time.
