Mpls. Man Pleads Guilty To Threatening To 'Blow Up' Mosque
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 57-year-old Minneapolis man has pleaded guilty to sending a threatening letter to an Islamic Center, according to the United States Attorney's Office.
Daniel Fisher pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs, which is a federal hate crime.
Authorities say on Sept. 30, 2015, the Tawfiq Islamic Center received an anonymous handwritten letter, which threatened to "blow up your building with all you immigrants in it" along with other racist and derogatory commentary.
According to Fisher's guilty plea, FBI agents interviewed him on June 14, 2016 where he reported that he was angry that the Islamic Center selected Minnehaha Avenue for its new location and he wanted it built somewhere else. He further reported that he had become "increasingly angry with Muslims since 9/11."
Fisher confessed to writing the letter and mailing it to the Islamic Center with the intent to scare its members, the United States Attorney's Office said.
"Threatening to blow up a mosque is simply un-American," said U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger. "It is a bedrock principle of our country, enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution, that all people are free to practice their religion of choice. Tens of thousands of law-abiding Muslims do so in Minnesota. The U.S. Attorney's Office and FBI will not allow any resident of our state to have that most basic freedom jeopardized by the threat of violence."