Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center

On August 5, 2017, at about 5 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.[1][4]

Mark Dayton, the governor of Minnesota, denounced the attack as "an act of terrorism" during a visit to the mosque.[5] President Trump and the White House were silent on the attack,[6] but presidential advisor Sebastian Gorka suggested it may have been a hoax orchestrated "by the left."[7][8] 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.[9]

On March 13, 2018, the FBI announced the arrest of three suspects in connection to the bombing. The suspects were identified as Michael Hari, 47, Michael McWhorter, 29, and Joe Morris, 22, all of Clarence, Illinois. McWhorter allegedly stated that the motivation behind the bombing was "'scare [Muslims] out of the United States'...because they push their beliefs on everyone else."[10] The three were arrested on charges of possession of a machine gun.[11] One of men involved, former sheriff's deputy Michael B. Hari, had connections to the Three Percenters.[12]

After a five-week federal trial, a jury in Minnesota on December 9, 2020, convicted Michael Hari of five separate charges relating to property destruction and threats of force against the free expression of religious belief.[13] Hari was identified by authorities as the mastermind of the bombing. He had recruited McWhorter and Morris, who were less educated and in financial distress, to help carry out 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 his trial. Hari faces a minimum federal prison sentence of 35 years.[3]