Militia Group Leader Guilty Of Minnesota Mosque Pipe Bomb Attack

The leader of an anti-government white supremacist militia group and former sheriff's deputy has been convicted of hate crime charges after a pipe bomb attack on a Minnesota mosque in 2017.

Jurors found Michael Hari guilty on five counts, including 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 and two other men — Joe Morris and Michael McWhorter — carried out an attack on the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minn., on Aug. 5, 2017, as several men gathered for morning prayer. According to Morris and McWhorter, who pleaded guilty to their roles in the bombing and testified against the 49-year-old, Hari was the mastermind behind the plot.

"Michael Hari's goal in bombing the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center was to spread hatred, instill fear, and threaten the constitutionally protected right to freedom of religion. This act of violence, driven by hatred and ignorance, shook our community," U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald said in a statement.