A white supremacist militia group that detonated a bomb near at a Minnesota mosque in 2017 planned a violent revolution against the U.S. government, according to court documents. Law enforcement officials found automatic weapons, bombs and bullets with the group members who "hated Islam," the documents stated.
Michael Hari, the leader of the group White Rabbit Three Percent Illinois Patriot Freedom Fighters Militia, confessed to stocking up fully-automatic rifles and communications devices to jam mobile phone signals, ABC7 Chicago reported on Wednesday, citing the court documents. Hari, who was former sheriff's deputy, and his group members carried out the attack near Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in August 2017 in a bid to scare Muslims and drive them out of the country.
Prosecutors released photos about the militia's gear with a logo that said: "Ain't no fun when the rabbit got the gun." The law enforcement officials called White Rabbit as a "paramilitary terrorist organization" whose target was anyone did not agree with or did not like, according to the report.
Prosecutors asked the court to prevent Hari from attempting to justify his actions saying he was a patriot who wanted to the U.S. They also expressed concern that he may try to tell the jury the case against him was politically motivated.
The militia members who were involved in the mosque attack were Joe Morris, Michael McWhorter and Ellis Mack. They were arrested along with Hari and pleaded guilty. However, the militia leader did not make a guilty plea. Hari's trial was scheduled to begin in July; however, it was postponed to Nov. 2.
Three months following the August 2017 mosque attack, the militia members planned to carry out a similar attack on the Women's Health Practice, an abortion clinic in Champaign, Illinois, the explosive device failed to detonate. Ahead of the two attacks, the Chicago Tribune reported that Hari set up his global security firm to bid for construction rights to build a wall on the southern border as proposed by President Donald Trump.
"We would look at the wall as not just a physical barrier to immigration but also as a symbol of the American determination to defend our culture, our language, our heritage, from any outsiders," Hari told the Tribune at the time.
