2 militia members admit role in attack on Minnesota mosque

Source: Associated Press

By AMY FORLITI
44 minutes ago

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Hoping to scare Muslims into leaving the U.S., members of an Illinois militia group rented a truck and drove more than 500 miles (805 kilometers) to bomb a Minnesota mosque, two men admitted Thursday.

Michael McWhorter and Joe Morris said that when they arrived at the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington on Aug. 5, 2017, they broke a window and threw a lit pipe bomb and a gasoline mixture inside, causing an explosion, fire and extensive damage. No one was injured in the attack, which happened just as morning prayers were about to begin, shaking members of the local Muslim community.

. . .

The plea agreements portray Hari as the ringleader of a militia group called the White Rabbits, which included Hari, McWhorter, Morris and at least five other people. Hari's trial is set for July.

The guilty pleas of McWhorter and Morris came a day before three members of another militia were set to be sentenced for a foiled plot to massacre Muslims in southwest Kansas by blowing up a mosque and apartments housing Somali immigrants. That attack, planned for the day after the November 2016 election, was thwarted after another member of the group tipped off authorities.

Read more: https://apnews.com/68c7fd8014424480932e663d73d46cc1

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McWhorter



Michel Hari



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Ellis Mack

Man pleads guilty to role in militia crime spree
Sep 25, 2018

URBANA, Ill. (WAND) - A Ford County man has pleaded guilty to federal charges that he was part of a violent multi-state malicious crime spree.

Ellis Mack, 18, pleaded guilty to possession of a machine gun and conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce through robbery or attempted extortion. The plea was part of an agreement with federal prosecutors.

Federal authorities arrested Mack in 2017, as part of the investigation into a Minnesota mosque bombing, the attempted bombing of a Champaign clinic, destruction of a railroad track near Effingham, Walmart robberies and an Indiana home invasion. Mack and three others, Michael Hari, Michael McWhorter and Joe Morris all part of the militia group called "The White Rabbits," federal prosecutors said.

During the hearing, prosecutors revealed fresh details in the case:

Investigators believe that, after damaging the railroad tracks, militia members sent a threatening message to the Canadian National Railroad demanding payment in crypto currency.

They believe that, in the case of the Indiana home invasion, members pretended to be law enforcement officials conducting a drug raid on the home of a person they believed dealt in drugs.

https://www.wandtv.com/news/man-pleads-guilty-to-role-in-militia-crime-spree/article_789b9ac7-84e2-5236-94ae-a98f32a7dfdd.html