New charges added in mosque bombing

MINNEAPOLIS — A grand jury added federal civil-rights and hate-crimes violations to the charges three Illinois men face in the bombing of a mosque in suburban Minneapolis, prosecutors announced Thursday.

The new five-count indictment names Michael Hari, 47, Michael McWhorter, 29, and Joe Morris, 23. They were previously charged with arson in Minnesota and are being held in Urbana, Ill., on separate charges.

They’re accused of traveling from Clarence, Ill., to carry out the Aug. 5 pipe-bombing at the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minn.

The explosion and fire damaged the imam’s office just as morning prayers were about to begin, but nobody was hurt.

The indictment alleges they conspired to bomb the mosque to make Muslims feel “frightened and intimidated,” thus interfering with their free expression of religious liberty.

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