Leader of an Illinois militia group who wrote an anti-Muslim

manifesto is convicted of civil rights and hate crime charges in the

2017 bombing of a Minnesota mosque that left the community
'shattered'
By VALERIE EDWARDS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and ASSOCIATED PRESS

PUBLISHED: 16:26 GMT, 10 December 2020 | UPDATED: 16:38 GMT, 10 December 2020

Vocabulary:
To be shattered – быть разрушенным An evidence – улика
A mosque - мечеть An investigation – следствие,
расследование
To be convinced – быть осуждённым
Worshipers - верующие
Conviction - осуждение
Citing - ссылаться
Jury - присяжные
A manifesto – манифест
Civil rights – гражданские права
To track down – выследить
Hate crime – преступление на почве
ненависти Co-defendants – сообвиняемые
A charge – здесь: обвинение, Testified – показал
преступление, дело
Verdict delivering – оглашение приговора
Stemming from sth – вытекающие из чего-
Justice has been served – справедливость
л.
восторжествовала
A prosecutor - прокурор
Diminished attendance – снижение
Militia group – ополчение посещаемости
Accomplice – сообщник A white supremacist group – группа белых
супремасистов
A pipe bomb – самодельная бомба
To be galvanized – быть вдохновленным
Explosives – взрывчатые вещества
Law enforcement – правоохранительные
Mandatory sentence – обязательное
органы
наказание
Particularly state and federal leadership –
A hunger strike – голодовка
руководство штата и федеральное
'sham' trial – «фиктивный» суд руководство

To outline – называть, подчеркивать To undermine – подорвать

A hatred – ненависть The Dar Al-Farooq congregation – община

Дар Аль-Фарук
A testimony of federal investigators –
показания федеральных следователей US Attorney – прокурор США

A trial – судебный процесс Obstructing – воспрепятствование

To be scheduled – быть назначенным (о To refute the defense's claims –
наказании) опровергнуть утверждения защиты
A condemnation – осуждение Inconsistencies – несоответствия
To uphold – отстаивать To discredit - дискредитировать
A sincerity – искренность A forensic evidence – судебно-
медицинские показания
Drug-related crimes – преступления,
связанные с наркотиками Sheriff's deputy – заместитель шерифа
Defense attorneys – адвокаты защиты

Michael Hari was convicted by a jury Wednesday on several civil rights and hate crime charges
stemming from the 2017 bombing of Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center.
Prosecutors said Hari, who is the leader of the White Rabbit militia group, instructed two
accomplices to throw a pipe bomb inside the center.
Hari was found guilty of using explosives, damaging property because of its religious character and
obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs.
The 49-year-old faces mandatory sentence of 35 years in prison, authorities said.
Shortly after his conviction, Hari reportedly called the Star Tribune from jail to say he was
beginning a hunger strike to protest his 'sham' trial.

A jury on Wednesday convicted the leader of an Illinois anti-government militia

group of several civil rights and hate crime charges in the 2017 bombing of
a Minnesota mosque.
Prosecutors outlined 49-year-old Michael Hari's hatred for Muslims as his
motivation for the bombing during the trial, citing anti-Islam excerpts from Hari's
manifesto known as The White Rabbit Handbook, named after his militia group. 
During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence to jurors that included phone
records and testimony of federal investigators who tracked Hari down to Clarence,
Illinois, a rural community about 120 miles south of Chicago where Hari and two
co-defendants lived after a seven-month investigation.
The bombing at the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center took place on August 5, 2017,
when the pipe bomb exploded in the imam's office as worshipers gathered for early
morning prayers. 
No one was hurt in the explosion, though community members where shaken by
the incident and the mosque's executive director testified last month that it has led
to diminished attendance due to fear.
Local faith leaders gathered in front of the federal courthouse building in St Paul
and thanked prosecutors and the jury during a press conference after the verdict
was delivered. 
Abdulahi Farah, a program director at Dar Al-Farooq, said the mosque's sense of
community was 'shattered' after the attack, but the guilty verdict sends a 'strong
message' to their congregants and other Muslim communities across the state.
'Our community members definitely have been sharing messages of hope instead
of fear and isolation,' Farah said. 'Many more members are slowly coming back
and feeling like this is the place where we belong, this is our home and we're not
going anywhere.'
Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, said during the press conference that while justice has
been served in this individual case, the threat of violence toward Muslim
communities by white supremacist groups still exists. 
Hussein said these groups have been galvanized by President Donald Trump's
administration and that he is concerned the groups will take out their frustration
with the president's loss in November's election on Muslim communities across the
nation.
We urge, as we celebrate today's verdict, that law enforcement and particularly
state and federal leadership do not ignore ... the potential for more severe crimes
like this happening moving forward,' he said.
US Attorney Erica MacDonald said in a release Wednesday that Hari's goal was to
undermine the Dar Al-Farooq congregation's right to practice their religion with
violence 'driven by hatred and ignorance'.
'Today's guilty verdicts represent a condemnation of that hatred and uphold our
fundamental right to live and worship free from the threat of violence and
discrimination,' she said.
Hari was found guilty on all five counts, which include using explosives, damaging
property because of its religious character and obstructing the free exercise of
religious beliefs. 
A sentencing hearing for Hari, who faces a mandatory minimum of 35 years in
prison, has yet to be scheduled, according to MacDonald.
The Star Tribune reported that Hari called the newspaper from jail a few hours
after his conviction to say he was beginning a hunger strike.
'I am protesting my sham trial by submitting to a trial by ordeal in the form of a
hunger strike to prove my innocence and my sincerity,' Hari said, according to the
newspaper. 
Hari also said he was embarking on the strike for people wrongly convicted of
drug-related crimes, the newspaper reported.
The testimony by Hari's co-defendants, Joe Morris and Michael McWhorter,
described how Morris viewed Hari as a father figure, and how Hari instructed them
to throw the pipe bomb into the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center as Hari waited in
the car after driving up from Illinois in a truck rented by Hari. 
Morris, who along with McWhorter pleaded guilty in January 2019 to their role in
the attack, testified that Hari said the mosque trained ISIS fighters.
Defense attorneys argued that prosecutors failed to produce forensic evidence
putting Hari at the suburban Minneapolis mosque on the day of the attack and
attempted to discredit Morris and McWhorter with what they said were
inconsistencies in their testimony. Hari refused to testify in his own defense.
Prosecutors refuted the defense's claims, citing Hari's past as a former sheriff's
deputy that investigated crimes as how he knew not to leave forensic evidence
behind.