Ford County Sheriff’s Office
Two of three men charged with bombing a mosque in Minnesota in 2017 pleaded guilty on Thursday and admitted to unleashing a crime spree on three different states, the Star Tribune reports. Michael McWhorter, 29, and Joe Morris, 23, could reportedly face life in prison after admitting to various crimes they say they committed after forming a white nationalist militia with a third man facing charges. In court, both McWhorter and Morris described forming the “Patriot Freedom Fighters” in 2017 and targeting the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center to “send a message to Muslims.” They reportedly admitted to renting a car, buying 20 pounds of black powder, and bombing the mosque with a pipe bomb and a gas canister—but no one was injured in the attack. After bombing Dar al-Farooq, McWhorter and Morris said they changed their militia's name to “White Rabbits 3 Percent Illinois Patriot Freedom Fighters” and went on a crime spree across three states that included trying to set fire to a women's health clinic, robbing two Walmarts, robbing people in their homes, and attempting to extort the Canadian National Railway.
The third man, 47-year-old Michael Hari, faces pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial in July. Hari is described by prosecutors as the mastermind behind the bombing.