Mosque Bombing Suspects Make First Court Appearance
A building that housed Michael Hari's business is seen Wednesday, March 14, 2018, in Clarence, Ill. Hari, a former sheriff's deputy accused of being the ringleader in the bombing of a Minnesota mosque emerges in court documents as a sometimes-threatening figure with anti-government views who also wrote books and attracted others into his shadowy group. Teresa Crawford/AP
Three men from unincorporated Clarence, a town 35 miles north of Urbana, are accused of setting off a pipe bomb at a mosque just outside of Minneapolis last August.
47-year-old Michael Hari and 29-year-old Michael McWhorter both waived their right to a preliminary hearing in their initial federal court appearance Wednesday.
Matt Sepic is covering the case for Minnesota Public Radio and was in court Wednesday. He explains what’s next.
“It’s been bound over to the grand jury, so the next step presumably would be an indictment if the grand jury believes that the evidence that the government has presented warrants further charges," Sepic said.
Illinois Public Media’s Brian Moline spoke with Sepic, who says that Hari is the alleged ringleader of the bombing. He discussed Hari's background and previous run-ins with the law.
Hari and 29-year-old Michael McWhorter were in federal court yesterday in relation to the bombing case. Another man from Clarence, 22-year-old Joe Morris, had already made his initial court appearance.
Another man --- 18-year-old Ellis Mack ---- who faces a gun charge along with them, but has not been charged in the mosque bombing, was also in court yesterday. All of the men have waived their preliminary hearings.