A federal jury Wednesday convicted a man of civil rights and hate crimes charges related to the 2017 bombing of a mosque in the Midwestern state of Minnesota.
Michael Hari, 49, the leader of an anti-government militia group based in the state of Illinois, was found guilty on all five counts related to the August 2017 bombing of the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center. No one was injured, but the pipe bomb attack shook the community and provoked demonstrations across the country.
The charges against Hari include damaging property because of its religious character, forcibly obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs, conspiracy to commit felonies with fire and explosives, using a destructive device in a crime of violence and possessing an unregistered destructive device.
Hari had previously pleaded not guilty to the charges, but two co-conspirators arrested with him at the time of the attack, Joe Morris and Michael McWhorter, confessed to the crime in January 2019.
The jury deliberated for less than a day before declaring Hari guilty.
Prosecutors cited Hari’s hatred for Muslims throughout the trial, in particular referencing “The White Rabbit Handbook,” Hari’s manifesto named after his group.
Testimony by his co-defendants last year detailed how Hari rented a truck and drove it from Illinois to the Minnesota town of Bloomington, where he instructed Morris and McWhorter to throw the pipe bomb while he waited in his car.
Last month, an FBI report showed that hate crimes in the U.S. increased by 2.7% in 2019.
FBI: Hate Crime Incidents Rose 2.7% in 2019There were 7,314 hate crime incidents last year, the most reported since 2008
The FBI defines hate crimes as criminal acts motivated by race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender or gender identity.
Of the 8,552 victims in the FBI’s report from 2019, 21% were targeted because of their religion.
