Hate crime indictment in bombing of Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (KMSP) - Three Illinois men were federally indicted Thursday for hate crime and civil rights violations in connection to the explosion at Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minn. last August.

Michael Hari, 47, Michael McWhorter, 29, and Joe Morris, 23, are all charged with intentionally damaging religious property, intentionally obstructing by force the free exercise of religious beliefs, conspiracy and using a destructive device. Hari is also charged with an additional count of possession of an unregistered destructive device. Hari, McWhorter and Morris were all previously charged with arson.

According to the indictment, the three men drove a rented pickup truck from Champaign-Urbana, Ill. to Bloomington. On Aug. 5, Morris broke a window at the Dar al-Farooq with a hammer and tossed in a plastic container filled with a mix of diesel fuel and gasoline. McWhorter lit the fuse to a pipe bomb, which Hari made, and threw it in the window. The IED went off just before morning prayers. No one was injured, but the explosion caused damage to the building.

According to a previous criminal complaint, the men chose to set off the explosive at Dar al-Farooq to "scare [Muslims] out of the country" and "show them hey, you're not welcome here, get the [expletive] out."

The three men are already in custody in Urbana on different charges.