MINNEAPOLIS — Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of the leader of an Illinois anti-government group who's accused of being the mastermind behind the 2017 bombing of a Minnesota mosque.
Michael Hari, of Clarence, Illinois has pleaded not guilty to multiple civil rights and hate crimes stemming from the early morning pipe bombing of Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington.
No one was injured in the bombing, but the attack damaged the mosque and frightened local Muslims.
Hari’s alleged accomplices have both pleaded guilty. They have said they were following Hari's lead and that they carried out the bombing to scare Muslims into leaving the U.S.
Hari has been a discipline problem while awaiting trial. He attempted escape while being transported from his home in Illinois to Minnesota, and in June of 2019 he was placed in segregation after disabling a security device in his cell inside the Anoka County Jail.
