Madera Man Pleads Guilty Of Burning Planned Parenthood

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- A Madera man pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to torching a Planned Parenthood facility and throwing a brick at a mosque.

Donny Eugene Mower, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of arson, one count of damaging religious property and one count of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which makes it a federal crime to damage the property of a reproductive health services facility, according to U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner.

Mower admitted that in the early morning of Sept. 2, 2010, he made a Molotov cocktail by stuffing a fuel-soaked cloth into a beer bottle, drove to Madera Planned Parenthood Clinic, lit the Molotov cocktail and threw it through a ground-floor window of the clinic.

The clinic sustained more than $26,000 of damage and had to close for two days.

Mower also acknowledged that on Aug. 20, 2010, two days after placing a sign in front of Masjid Madera, a local mosque, that read "No temple for the god of terrorism at ground zero. ANB," he threw a brick at the front of the mosque and damaged its facade. On Aug. 24, 2010, Mower left additional signs at the mosque, stating "Wake up America, the enemy is here" and "American Nationalist Brotherhood."

"Interference with the lawful work of reproductive health clinics will not be tolerated; nor will attacks directed at places of worship because of the perceived ethnicity of those who worship there," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Division, in a press release.

"We will vigorously safeguard the right of Muslim Americans to practice their religion free from the fear of intimidation, and the right of reproductive health centers to conduct their activities free from violence," Wagner added.

Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 6. Mower faces a prison sentence of five to 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000 on the arson charge. He also faces sentences of up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $100,000, or both, on the other charges.

The FBI led the investigation. A fingerprint on one of the signs led law enforcement officerss to Mower. He was fingerprinted for a job as a bus driver with the Chowchilla Union High School District.