The leader of a terrorist militia group has been found guilty of hate crime charges after a Minnesota mosque bombing in 2017.

Michael Hari, 49, is the founder of an alt-right militia group called "The White Rabbits." The FBI has deemed the militia organization a domestic terrorist group. According to Hari, The mission of The White Rabbits is to “take up armed resistance” against the Illinois government. Members of his group were equipped with paramilitary outfits, equipment, and assault rifles.

In addition to pushing an anti-government narrative, Hari's militia group specifically targeted Muslims as he saw them as a threat to American ideals. According to the US attorney's office in Minnesota, "Hari targeted Dar al-Farooq mosque to terrorize Muslims into believing they are not welcome in the United States and should leave the country."

The mosque bombing took place on August 5th, 2017, when Hari and two other militia members, Joe Morris and Michael McWhorter, targeted the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minn. The men rented a truck in Illinois and drove it up to Minnesota to carry out the attack.

The attack happened in the morning hours during the mosque's morning prayer service. While Hari waited outside in the rented vehicle, he ordered the two men to throw a pipe bomb into the imam's office, where it exploded. Although nobody died in the explosion, it was a means to scare the Muslim congregants and let them know that their presence was not welcome.

Morris, who was charged as a co-conspirator in the crime, describes Hari as a sort of father figure. According to Morris, Hari specifically picked the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center as the intended target because of its suspected connections with ISIS Fighters. Hari viewed the mosque as a sort of training ground for ISIS fighters and sought to combat Islamic terrorism through retaliation against the mosque.

In addition to proudly advertising his militia group, Hari kept a manifesto titled The White Rabbit Handbook. His manifesto included a detailed range of xenophobic, anti-government statements. His influence even reached across social media through his YouTube channel, the Illinois Patriot. It was on this YouTube channel where he continued to spew his xenophobic beliefs to his followers.

Jury Trial Convicts Hari and Co-Conspirators

Hari and his co-conspirators went up against a jury trial where jurors heard a range of evidence against the three militia members. Prosecutors presented anti-Islamic excerpts from the manifesto as well as phone records and federal testimonies linking them to the crime. Hari did not testify in his defense during the trial.

The defense argued that the lack of evidence at the scene of the crime does not support Hari's involvement in the crime. However, prosecutors pushed back, saying that Hari's previous law enforcement experience as a sheriff's deputy allowed him to commit the crime without leaving forensic evidence behind.

Hari was found guilty on five counts, including using explosives, damaging property because of its religious character, and obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs. In a report with the Star Tribune, Hari gave a statement from behind bars which read in part, “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.”

Muslim Community Responds

Abdulahi Farah, a program director at Dar Al-Farooq, shared in a press conference after the verdict was read that the community was shaken up when the bombing first occurred, but that they would pull through. Farah shared the following statement, “Our community members definitely have been sharing messages of hope instead of fear and isolation. 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.”

After the attack happened, the mosque attendance in prayers dwindled because of heightened fear.

Hari's Questionable Past

This is not the first time the terrorist militia group leader has had a run-in with the law. Before he was involved with criminal activity, Hari worked as a sheriff's deputy. Afterward, Hari faced charges for child abduction in 2006 after he took his then 13 and 15-year-old daughters across country lines to Mexico and Belize. Hari served a 30-month probation sentence for the abduction.

Before the bombing at the Dar al-Farooq mosque, the other co-conspirator, McWhorter, confirmed that Hari and Morris were also responsible for a previous bombing of a women's health clinic in Champaign, Illinois.

A sentencing hearing for Hari has not yet been set, but he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 35 years.