Mastermind of the 2017 bombing of Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center convicted in the US

RELIGIOUS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – A federal appeals court affirmed the conviction of the leader of an Illinois antigovernment militia for masterminding the 2017 bombing of a Minnesota mosque.

The attack terrified the local Muslim community.

AP reported A three-judge panel rejected all the legal arguments raised by Emily Claire Hari.

No one was hurt in the bombing of the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center, but more than a dozen members of the mosque community gave victim impact statements about the trauma they felt.

Several men were at Dar al-Farooq for early morning prayers on Aug. 5, 2017, when a pipe bomb was thrown through the window of an imam’s office.

A seven-month investigation led authorities to the rural community of Clarence, Illinois, where Hari and co-defendants Michael McWhorter and Joe Morris lived.

Authorities say Hari led a small group called the White Rabbits that included McWhorter, Morris and others and that Hari came up with the plan to attack the mosque. Prosecutors said at trial that Hari was motivated by hatred for Muslims.