It's been an article of faith among Minnesota's Anti-Muslim Bund that an Alpha News opinion piece, Bloomington Mosque Bombing: Hoax, Inside Job Or The Same Thing?, was the gospel truth about the bombing of Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center last August.
Only fools believe mosque blast wasn't a PR stunt, as Cory Zukowski wryly observed in a City Pages review of the column:
The attorney moonlights as a media watchdog and a conservative activist, routinely ripping Republicans for their laggard efforts in safeguarding America from The Mulsim Threat. So it's no surprise he smells the stench of conspiracy in the fireboming of the Dar Al-Farooq mosque.
According to Gilmore, the still unsolved explosion that rocked the mosque before dawn on August 5 wasn't a terrorist attack. It was more likely a "hoax" or an "inside job" or a "fake hate crime."
According to the FBI, the investigation remains ongoing. Spokesman Jeff Van Nest declined comment.
Yet this scant info hasn't stopped Minnesota's leading anti-Muslim news site from leaping to conclusions.
Unfortunately these conclusions have lost force with the arrest of suspects in Illinois. Forum News political reporter Don Davis reports in Three Illinois men accused in Minnesota mosque bombing:
Federal officials in Illinois say they have arrested three men they think bombed a Bloomington mosque last summer.
Law enforcement officers arrested the trio Tuesday morning, March 13, in east-central Illinois. While they were arrested on a charge of possessing a machine gun, a criminal complaint filed In U.S. District Court indicated authorities obtained evidence that they were responsible for bombing the Bloomington mosque last Aug. 5.
Arrested were Michael B. Hari, 47; Joe Morris, 22; and Michael McWhorter, 29. The three are suspected in the Bloomington crime and also the attempted bombing of an abortion clinic in Champaign, Ill., on Nov. 7, 2017, among other crimes.
Also arrested on the machine gun charge was Ellis Mack, 18, of Clarence, but court documents do not indicate he was suspected in the Bloomington bombing.
Court documents filed by an FBI agent indicate that McWhorter "admitted to his participation in the bombing of the Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center" in Bloomington.
McWhorter, Hari and Morris drove from Illinois to the Twin Cities in a rented pickup truck, the document says.
Hari was the driver, Morris smashed a mosque window and McWhorter threw a bomb through the broken window, the court filing indicated.
McWhorter, who said it was Hari's idea to bomb the mosque, said "they did not indent to kill anyone, but they wanted to 'scare them out of the country' (referring to Muslims), because they push their beliefs on everyone else," the court document said.
The bombing would "show them, they you're not welcome here," he added.
However, the Twin Cities community showed compassion and came to the aid of those who worshiped in the mosque. . . .
Well, not everyone.
UPDATE: We'd missed this tweet by DFL Communications staffer Wilhelm Davis o his collection of other doubters (h/t J. Patrick Coolican in the Strib's Morning Hot Dish}:
Hey local republicans, I have plenty of screenshots of your tweets, articles and Facebook posts accusing the Muslims of Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center of bombing themselves. #mngop #mnleg
— Wilhelm Davis (@WilhelmDavis) March 13, 2018
Coolican writes:
3 Illinois men arrested in Bloomington mosque bombing: Montemayor. Seems like some impressive investigative work by the FBI. DFL comms guy Wilhelm Davis collected all the claims by local conservative writers, radio hosts and Republican activists that the bombing was a "hoax" or a "false flag" back when it happened. No doubt apologies are forthcoming.
Photo: The incendiary device tossed into the Dar Al Farooq Center in Bloomington primarily struck the office of the mosque's imam. Damaged in the blast was the desk where the religious leader prepares for prayers in the morning. Shrapnel lodged in the side of the desk, the wall behind it and the ceiling above it. Kristi Belcamino / St. Paul Pioneer Press via West Central Tribune.
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