MINNEAPOLIS – A jury has convicted the leader of an Illinois anti-government militia group of civil rights and hate crime charges in the 2017 bombing of a Bloomington mosque.
The jury in Minneapolis deliberated less than a day before finding 49-year-old Michael Hari guilty on five counts that include damaging property due to its religious character and forcibly obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs.
Prosecutors cited Hari’s hate for Muslims for the motivation behind the attack and used testimony from Hari’s co-defendants to put him at the scene. The defense argued the government failed to provide forensic evidence putting Hari at the scene and attempted to discredit the witnesses.
