MINNESOTA
A federal grand jury indicted three Illinois men on federal civil rights and hate crime charges for the bombing of an Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, according to authorities.
The three, Michael Hari, 47, Michael McWhorter, 29, and Joe Morris, 22, were charged in connection with an explosion at the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, on Aug. 5, 2017.
McWhorter, Morris, and Hari were also named in a criminal complaint filed on March 13, 2018 in Minnesota, charging them with arson.
The three defendants are currently being held in custody in Urbana, Illinois, on separate charges.
“All people – regardless of where they worship – have the right under federal law to live free from the threat of violence and discrimination,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore.
“These three defendants allegedly plotted and executed a plan designed specifically to spread fear and threaten a fundamental right afforded to all, the freedom of religion,” said U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald. “In spite of the destructive and violent act alleged in the indictment, our communities have found strength in taking a unified stand against the attack.”
“Last year’s bombing was more than just an attack against a single structure, it was an attack on the very religious freedoms we enjoy as Americans,” said Jill Sanborn, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Minneapolis Division. “The ability to worship how and where we want is a cornerstone of our country’s foundation, and the FBI stands ready to work with the community and our law enforcement partners whenever those freedoms are attacked.”
The indictment returned by a federal grand jury alleges that Hari constructed a pipe bomb and rented a pickup truck in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.
Hari, McWhorter, and Morris drove from Illinois to Bloomington, Minnesota, in the pickup truck, stopping along the way to purchase diesel fuel and gasoline. The defendants mixed these ingredients in a plastic container.
The indictment alleges that, in the early morning of Aug. 5, 2017, Morris broke a window at the Islamic center and threw the plastic container containing the diesel fuel and gasoline mixture into the building
McWhorter allegedly lit the fuse and threw the pipe bomb in the broken window.
According to the court documents, the window was part of the Imam’s office.
When the pipe bomb exploded, it ignited the mixture in the plastic container, causing extensive damage in the Imam’s office. McWhorter and Morris returned to the pickup truck, where Hari was waiting, and sped off, driving back to Illinois, the indictment alleges.
The charges also allege that the defendants targeted the mosque with intent to damage the mosque because of its religious character and with intent to obstruct Muslims from worshipping there.
The Islamic center serves as a religious center as well as a religious school for children.
As described in court papers, McWhorter said the Islamic center bomb wasn’t intended to kill anyone. But they wanted to “scare [Muslims] out of the country” and to “show them hey, you’re not welcome here…”
A tip from a confidential source helped to lead investigators to the defendants.
The defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.