Ford County trio suspected of bombing mosque, trying to bomb abortion clinic

Posted on March 13, 2018

 

Court gavel
Federal prosecutors say authorities have linked three Ford County men to a bombing last summer at a Minnesota mosque. (Photo courtesy Flickr/Brian Turner)

By Howard Packowitz

FORD COUNTY – Federal prosecutors say they have linked three Ford County men to the bombing of a Bloomington, Minnesota mosque last August and an attempted bombing three months later at a Champaign women’s health clinic that performs abortions.

Prosecutors filed an affidavit detailing evidence they have against Michael Hari, 47, Joe Morris, 22, Michael McWhorter, 29, all from Clarence in eastern Ford County.

Prosecutors filed the document as they charged the trio and a fourth Clarence man, Ellis Mack, 18, with possession of a machine gun.

The affidavit said McWhorter confessed on Saturday, telling authorities that it was Hari’s idea to bomb the mosque to scare Muslims out of the country because they push their beliefs on everyone else.

Five people were inside the mosque at the time.

“Michael Hari also has a YouTube channel, and people in town tell us that they were planning on rallying a militia together to try to fight the FBI,” said reporter Aaron Eades from our news partner, WCIA-TV.

Police were searching a building Hari owns in Clarence and his parents’ home in Paxton.

The Champaign News-Gazette said Hari is an ex-Ford County sheriff’s deputy, had run for sheriff as Libertarian, and has a conviction for abducting his own children.

Authorities also linked Hari, Morris, and McWhorter to a pipe bomb left in a surgical room, but did not explode at Women’s Health Practice in Champaign.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]

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