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Matt Sepic
Minneapolis

3 Illinois men face new federal hate crime charges in Bloomington mosque bombing

Asad Zaman stands at the site of the bombing.
Asad Zaman stands at the site of the bombing at the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center on Aug. 7, 2017, in Bloomington.
Courtney Pedroza | Star Tribune via AP 2017

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Updated: 5:20 p.m. | Posted: 3:30 p.m.

Three Illinois men face new charges in the bombing of the Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center on Aug. 5, 2017. A federal grand jury has issued a five-count indictment against Michael Hari, 47, Michael McWhorter, 29, and Joe Morris, 23. All three are from the small town of Clarence, Ill., about two hours south of Chicago.

The grand jury alleges the men committed hate crimes and interfered with the civil rights of those who attend the mosque. According to the indictment, the three men defaced, damaged and destroyed religious property because of the religious character of that property. The three are also charged with attempting to obstruct by force the free exercise of religion.

The third count involves the use of explosives. Authorities say Hari built a pipe bomb, rented a pickup truck in the Champaign-Urbana area and drove with the other two men to Bloomington, Minn.

The indictment filed Thursday says the device contained diesel fuel and gasoline, which authorities say the men bought while on their 500-mile drive from Illinois to Minnesota.

As prosecutors alleged earlier in a criminal complaint, Morris allegedly broke the window of the mosque, and McWhorter lit the fuse and threw the bomb inside around 5 a.m. Five people were gathered there for early prayers. The imam's office was damaged, but no one was hurt.

The other charges are related to the bomb itself: All three suspects are accused of carrying and using a destructive device for a crime of violence. Hari alone is charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device.

The men are in custody in Illinois. They're facing separate but related federal charges in the Central District of Illinois.

Last month, a grand jury in Urbana issued a superseding indictment related to other alleged crimes in Illinois. Prosecutors there say Hari is the ringleader of a ragtag anti-government group based in Clarence called the "White Rabbit Militia."

The federal indictment in Illinois says the group was established around the time of the mosque bombing. The men are charged with machine gun possession.

They're also accused in the attempted bombing last November of a clinic in Champaign that performs abortions, and of trying to rob Walmart stores in Illinois and drug dealers in Indiana last year.

In January, the three — plus a fourth man not charged in the mosque bombing — allegedly put explosives on railroad tracks near Effingham in an attempt to extort money from the Canadian National Railway by threatening more attempts to damage the tracks.