Illinois

Hide Two Illinois Men Pleaded Guilty To Bombing Of Islamic Center Two Illinois men, pleaded guilty to multiple charges in United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, including federal civil rights charges. The defendants attacked the Dar al-Farooq (DAF) Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota and engaged in a violent multi-state crime spree that threatened and intimidated entire communities.

According to their guilty pleas, during the summer of 2017 the men formed a militia group in central Illinois with a co-defendant and others that was eventually called the “White Rabbits.”

On the morning of August 5, 2017, one defendant broke a window at the DAF Islamic Center with a sledgehammer and threw a plastic container containing a diesel fuel and gasoline mixture into the building. The second defendant then lit the fuse on a pipe bomb and threw it through the broken window. At the time of the explosion congregants were in the mosque for morning prayers; however, the office in which the bomb was thrown was unoccupied and no fatalities or injuries occurred. The defendants stated the DAF Islamic Center was selected because it is an Islamic house of worship. They further admitted the bombing was an attempt to scare Muslims into believing they are not welcome in the United States.

The defendants also pleaded guilty to participating in an armed home invasion, conducting armed robberies of two Walmart stores, and attempting arson on the Women’s Health Practice in Champaign, Illinois.
 

Guilty Plea: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/two-illinois-men-plead-guilty-bombing-islamic-center