Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center

Last updated

Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center
Religion
Affiliation Islam
Location
Municipality Bloomington
State Minnesota
Country United States
Geographic coordinates 44°51′17″N93°15′52″W / 44.8547°N 93.2644°W / 44.8547; -93.2644

Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center is a mosque in Bloomington, Minnesota, United States.

Contents

On August 5, 2017, Emily Claire Hari (known at the time as Michael Hari), Michael McWhorter, and Joe Morris of Clarence, Illinois detonated an improvised explosive near the mosque, which damaged the structure but no one was hurt, in an effort to scare Muslims into leaving the United States. McWhorter and Morris pled guilty to crimes relating to the attack and Hari was convicted of several crimes in a 2020 federal trial. [1] [2]

History

The mosque first opened in 2011, when the Dar Al Farooq Center purchased a building that had previously been the site of Northgate Elementary School and Concordia High School. [3] The building that now houses the mosque was also sometimes used by a Lutheran church. [4]

2017 bombing

On August 5, 2017, at about 5:00 a.m. local time, an improvised explosive device detonated near the mosque, damaging an imam's office and sending smoke throughout the building. No one was hurt in the explosion. [3] [5]

Mark Dayton, then governor of Minnesota, denounced the attack as "an act of terrorism" during a visit to the mosque. [6] President Trump and the White House were silent on the attack, [7] but presidential advisor Sebastian Gorka suggested it may have been a hoax orchestrated "by the left." [8] [9] Hundreds of community members gathered at a soccer field near the Islamic center on August 8 in a show of solidarity with Muslim Americans. Jewish and Christian faith leaders, locals, state officials, and U.S. Senator Al Franken were all in attendance. [10]

On March 13, 2018, the FBI announced the arrest of three suspects in connection to the bombing. The suspects were identified as former sheriff's deputy Emily Hari (known at the time as Michael Hari), 47, Michael McWhorter, 29, and Joe Morris, 22, all of Clarence, Illinois. McWhorter stated that the motivation behind the bombing was to "'scare [Muslims] out of the United States'...because they push their beliefs on everyone else." [11] The three were arrested on charges of possession of a machine gun. [12] Hari had connections to the Three Percenters, a far-right, antigovernmental militia. [13]

After a five-week federal trial, a jury in Minnesota on December 9, 2020, convicted Hari of five separate charges relating to property destruction and threats of force against the free expression of religious belief. [14] Hari was identified by authorities as the mastermind of the bombing. She had recruited McWhorter and Morris, who were less educated and in financial distress, to help carry the attack McWhorter and Morris pled guilty to crimes relating to the incident, accepting the possibility of 35 years in prison, but hoped for sentencing leniency after testifying against Hari at her trial. [1] On September 13, 2021, Hari was sentenced to 53 years in prison. [15] Prosecutors asked for a 50 percent reduced sentence for McWhorter and Morris for their cooperation in the case against Hari. On April 12, 2021, McWhorter received a 15-year prison sentence and Morris received a 14-year prison sentence. [16]

First Amendment controversy

In 2019, the city of Bloomington passed an ordinance that forbade filming students of Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in a public park which led to a successful lawsuit in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit against the city to re-instate the first amendment rights of the parties involved. [17] Keith Ellison had priorly asked the court to drop the case. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Reid</span> British terrorist jailed in a US federal prison

Richard Colvin Reid, also known as the Shoe Bomber, is the perpetrator of the failed shoe bombing attempt on a transatlantic flight in 2001. Born to a father who was a career criminal, Reid converted to Islam as a young man in prison after years as a petty criminal. Later he became radicalized and went to Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he trained and became a member of al-Qaeda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in the United States</span> Presence of the religion of Islam in the United States of America

Islam is the third largest religion in the United States (1%), behind Christianity (63%) and Judaism (2%), and equaling the shares of Buddhism and Hinduism. A 2017 study estimated that 1.1% of the population of the United States are Muslim. In 2017, twenty states, mostly in the South and Midwest, reported Islam to be the largest non-Christian religion. In 2020, the U.S. Religion Census found there to be 4.45 million Muslim Americans, or roughly 1.3% of the population.

The Muslim American Society (MAS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1993 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. MAS describes itself as a grassroots Islamic movement. It has more than 50 chapters across the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dar Al-Hijrah</span> Mosque in Northern Virginia, U.S.

Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center is a mosque in Northern Virginia. It is located in the Seven Corners area of unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorism in the United States</span> Systematic or threatened use of violence to create a general climate of fear

In the United States, a common definition of terrorism is the systematic or threatened use of violence in order to create a general climate of fear to intimidate a population or government and thereby effect political, religious, or ideological change. This article serves as a list and a compilation of acts of terrorism, attempts to commit acts of terrorism, and other such items which pertain to terrorist activities which are engaged in by non-state actors or spies who are acting in the interests of state actors or persons who are acting without the approval of foreign governments within the domestic borders of the United States.

Mountaineer Militia was a local anti-government paramilitary group, members of which plotted to blow up an FBI building Clarksburg, West Virginia in 1996. The group also used the name West Virginia Mountaineer Militia, and had ties with another militias from other states.

Michael C. Finton, also known as Talib Islam, is an American convert to Islam and a part-time cook who attempted to bomb the Paul Findley Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in downtown Springfield, Illinois, on 24 September 2009. He pleaded guilty in federal court on 9 May 2011 and was sentenced to 28 years in prison.

Amine El Khalifi is a Moroccan man who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for plotting to carry out a suicide bombing on the United States Capitol. He was charged with "attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against federal property" and now convicted, faces 30 years in prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pavlo Lapshyn</span> Ukrainian convicted murderer

Pavlo Serhiyovych Lapshyn is a Ukrainian white supremacist terrorist who committed crimes in 2013 against Muslims in the United Kingdom. Lapshyn was given a life sentence, and will serve a minimum of 40 years, for a murder in Birmingham and three attempted bombings of mosques in the West Midlands. He confessed to police that his motivation was to kill and harm non-whites.

There has been an increase in incidents involving alleged radical Islamism in the Balkans since the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Percenters</span> American and Canadian far-right militia group

The Three Percenters are an American and Canadian far-right anti-government militia.

Shia Muslims have been persecuted by the Islamic State, an Islamic extremist group, since 2014. Persecutions have taken place in Iraq, Syria, and other parts of the world.

The 2016 Minneapolis shooting took place on June 29, 2016, in Minneapolis, Minnesota when a man named Anthony Sawina shot at five Somali-Americans, wounding two of them. Witnesses later recounted that Sawina shouted anti-Muslim expletives and claimed he was "going to kill [them] all." The attack was condemned by civil rights groups as part of a larger rise of Islamophobia in the United States leading up the 2016 presidential election.

Four suspects were arrested without charge by Australian Federal Police on 29 July 2017 in Sydney on suspicion of an Islamic State inspired plot to plant a bomb on an Etihad Airways flight departing Sydney on 15 July 2017.

The "Cannes-Torcy cell" was a jihadist network in France uncovered in 2012. Eighteen members of the cell were sentenced from one to 28 years in prison in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">True Blue Crew</span> Australian far-right extremist group

The True Blue Crew (TBC) is an Australian far-right extremist group. Members and supporters have been linked to right-wing terrorism and vigilantism, and members have been arrested with weapons and on terrorism-related charges. Experts who have studied the group say it appears to be "committed to violence".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 New York City Subway bombing</span> Terrorist attack on the New York City Subway

On December 11, 2017, a pipe bomb partially detonated in a corridor between the Times Square–42nd Street and 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal subway stations adjoining the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, injuring four people including the bomber. Mayor Bill de Blasio described the incident as "an attempted terrorist attack". The bomber was identified by police as 27-year-old Akayed Ullah, a Salafi Muslim immigrant from Bangladesh; he was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to life in prison in 2021.

The 2010 Bugojno bombing was an act of Islamic terrorism that occurred on 27 June 2010 against the police authorities of the Central Bosnia Canton in Bugojno in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the attack, one policeman was killed and several others were injured. Haris Čaušević, the assailant, was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

References

  1. 1 2 Mannix, Andy (December 10, 2020). "Illinois man found guilty of bombing Minnesota mosque". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on December 9, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  2. ↑ Mannix, Andy (August 23, 2021). "Mosque bomber now identifies as a woman, says right-wing blogs fueled "inner-conflict" leading up to attack". Star Tribune.
  3. 1 2 Montemayor, Stephen (August 6, 2017). "FBI: 'Improvised explosive device' caused blast at Bloomington Islamic center". Star Tribune. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  4. ↑ Du, Susan (August 1, 2016). "Bloomington mosque-haters petition city to stomp down on Dar al Farooq". City Pages. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  5. ↑ Chuck, Elizabeth (August 5, 2017). "Bomb blast shakes Minnesota mosque as worshipers prepare for prayers". NBC News. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  6. ↑ Bromwich, Jonah Engel (August 7, 2017). "Minnesota Governor Calls Mosque Attack a 'Criminal Act of Terrorism'". The New York Times . Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  7. ↑ Lahu, Jake, "Trump's silence on Minnesota mosque attack prompts criticism", Politico , August 8, 2017.
  8. ↑ Fang, Marina (August 10, 2017). "Trump Adviser Suggests Minnesota Mosque Attack Could Have Been Faked 'By The Left'". The Huffington Post . Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  9. ↑ AP, "Ellison Calls on Trump to Condemn Minnesota Mosque Bombing". The New York Times, August 9, 2017.
  10. ↑ Ansari, Talal (August 8, 2017). "Hundreds Gather In Solidarity With Muslim Americans After Minnesota Mosque Bombing". BuzzFeed News . Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  11. ↑ "3 Illinois men charged in Bloomington mosque bombing". Star Tribune .
  12. ↑ "3 arrested on gun charges suspected in Minnesota mosque bombing" . Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  13. ↑ Sankin, Aaron; Carless, Will (March 16, 2018). "Who are the Three Percenters?". Reveal News . Archived from the original on April 26, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  14. ↑ Levenson, Michael (December 10, 2020). "Militia Leader Is Convicted in Bombing of a Minnesota Mosque". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  15. ↑ Ibrahim, Mohamed; Forliti, Amy (September 13, 2021). "Militia leader gets 53 years in Minnesota mosque bombing". Associated Press. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  16. ↑ "2 men sentenced for 2017 mosque bombing". KSTP-TV . April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Fight over filming kids outside Bloomington mosque heads to court".
  18. ↑ "Federal Court Strikes Down Local Law in Minnesota That Forbade a Woman from Photographing Kids Near Mosque and Park". September 3, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.