The leader of an Illinois anti-government militia group who authorities say masterminded the 2017 bombing of a Minnesota mosque is to be sentenced Monday for several civil rights and hate crimes in an attack that terrified a community.
Emily Claire Hari, who was previously known as Michael Hari and recently said she is transgender, faces a mandatory minimum of 30 years in prison for the attack on Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington. Defense attorneys are asking for the minimum, but prosecutors are seeking a life sentence, saying Hari hasn’t taken responsibility for the attack.
“This bomb – the Defendant’s bomb – was an act of terror intended to destroy the heart of a community,” prosecutors wrote in papers asking for a life sentence. While no one was physically hurt, prosecutors wrote, “the Defendant irrevocably destroyed the sense of safety and peace that a house of worship is supposed to provide.”
MINNESOTA MOSQUE BOMBER IDENTIFIES AS TRANSGENDER WOMAN, SEEKS LOWER…