US mosque-bomber gets 53 years in prison

WASHINGTON: A transgender woman who led a militia called The White Rabbits has been sentenced to 53 years in prison for bombing a Minnesota mosque in 2017, the Justice Department announced.

Emily Claire Hari, 50, was convicted last year on five counts including the bombing, destruction of religious property and using force to obstruct worship, the department said in a statement late on Monday.

It said that Hari -- who at the time identified as a man, Michael Hari -- organised a "terrorist militia group" named The White Rabbits in Clarence, Illinois. Hari recruited two men, Michael McWhorter and Joe Morris, into the group, and on August 5, they attacked the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center (DAF) in Bloomington, Minnesota, around 800-km away.

In the early morning hours, as some people were gathering at the mosque for prayers, they broke a window and threw containers of volatile fuel and a pipe bomb inside, which exploded, causing heavy damage.

"Hari targeted DAF specifically to terrorise Muslims into believing they are not welcome in the United States and should leave the country," the department said. In January 2019, McWhorter and Morris pleaded guilty to the bombing, while Hari fought the case at trial. Hari´s two accomplices have not yet been sentenced.