Daniel George Fisher, 57, of Minneapolis, pleaded guilty
today to a federal hate crime for writing and mailing a threatening letter to
an Islamic Center. Fisher was charged
with obstructing, by threat of force, the free exercise of religious beliefs.
The plea was announced by Principal Deputy Assistant
Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights
Division; U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger of the District of Minnesota; and
Special Agent in Charge Richard T. Thornton of the FBI’s Minneapolis Division.
According to his guilty plea, in September 2015, Fisher
wrote and mailed an anonymous letter to the Tawfiq Islamic Center (TIC),
located in Minneapolis. In the letter,
the defendant threatened to “blow up your building with all you immigrants in
it.” The letter also included statements
demonstrating strong anti-Muslim animus.
Fisher subsequently admitted to the FBI that he wrote the letter to
scare and intimidate the TIC’s Muslim members.
“America protects the free exercise of religion for all
people in every community,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General
Gupta. “Threats of violence that target
religious communities violate federal law; corrode the ideals of our democracy;
and threaten the foundation of an inclusive, free and open society. The Justice Department will continue to
vigorously prosecute hate crimes that target people because of where they
worship.”
“Threatening to blow up a mosque is simply un-American,”
said U.S. Attorney 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.”
“Today’s guilty plea affirms that hate crimes directed at
our communities based on their religion will not be tolerated,” said Special
Agent in Charge Thornton. “We will
continue to aggressively investigate and bring to justice those who threaten
violence against our citizens who choose to exercise their religious freedom as
protected by our Constitution.”
U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright of the District of
Minnesota accepted Fisher’s plea. Fisher
faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI’s Minneapolis Division investigated the matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Angela Munoz-Kaphing
of the District of Minnesota and Trial Attorney Olimpia Michel of the Civil
Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.
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