By Crime Watch MN
MINNEAPOLIS – A Northeast Minneapolis man is facing a federal charge after authorities say he used an explosive device to maliciously damage a hair salon in the Bryn Mawr neighborhood of Minneapolis in November 2022.
Michael Allen Francisco, 59, is also alleged to have returned to the same business on the 400 block of Cedar Lake Road South about a year later when he threw a landscaping brick through the window in November 2023.
A statement released by U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger on Tuesday states that on Nov. 20, 2022, at approximately 2:49 a.m., an explosive device detonated at the hair salon, causing damage to the exterior and interior of the business. A Ring video camera recording from the salon showed an adult male, later identified as Francisco, placing the explosive device on the window of the salon. Francisco fled the area in a vehicle before the device detonated.
Almost one year later, on Nov. 6, 2023, video footage captured Francisco vandalizing the same hair salon. Francisco threw a landscaping rock through the window of the salon, causing the window to break, before fleeing the scene, the U.S. Attorney said. Investigators were able to collect DNA and other evidence that connected Francisco to both incidents.
Suspect shown approaching the hair salon with a large rock (US Department of Justice)
On March 28, 2024, officers and agents executed a search warrant at Francisco’s residence where they recovered the jacket Francisco was wearing on Nov. 6, 2023, during the brick incident; multiple explosive components including suspected energetic powders and fuses; a .32 caliber Iver Johnson Cadet revolver, with ammunition; and methamphetamine. Francisco has a prior felony conviction, prohibiting him from possessing firearms or ammunition at any time.
Further information detailed in state court documents says that nearly a month-and-a-half after the 2022 bombing incident, the salon business owner speculated to police that the incident could have been politically motivated based on some of his clients and/or a possible hate-motivated crime because it was known that he and his husband were married.
However, the state court documents and a media report from 2022 indicate that the salon owner and an adjacent business owner had been engaged in some type of disagreement in the months preceding the 2022 bombing.
Fox 9 reported in 2022 that a fake Craigslist ad had been placed advertising a “curb alert” offering everything for free at the other business owner’s gift shop adjacent to the salon, which had numerous large pieces of art and landscaping kitsch for sale sitting outside the business. Respondents, not knowing the ad was fake, showed up and loaded up and removed outdoor merchandise totaling over $13,000 from the gift shop business.
Information gathered during a police search warrant at the time revealed that the phone number and email address used to place the fake Craigslist ad were connected to another business on the block, Fox 9 reported. The gift shop owner was reportedly devastated from the large loss to his business and ended up closing the gift shop at that location about a month before the bombing.
Following his arrest this week, Francisco told investigators that he was good friends with the man who had closed his gift shop business and that he believed the salon owner was the one who made the fake Craigslist ad, which led to the closing of his friend’s business.
Francisco also admitted to investigators that he placed the explosive device on the window of the salon and lit the fuse before leaving the area, as well as throwing the rock through the window a year later.
Francisco has a lengthy criminal history including drugs, burglary, felon in possession of a firearm, and federal bank robbery.
The indictment charges Francisco with one count of maliciously damaging a building engaged in interstate commerce by means of an explosive device. Francisco made his initial appearance on Tuesday in U.S. District Court before Magistrate Judge David T. Schultz and was ordered to remain in custody pending a formal detention hearing scheduled for April 8, 2024.
The investigation into the case involved the FBI, the Minneapolis Police Department, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
This article originally appeared at Alpha News and was reprinted with permission.
