A 50-year-old man, who is behind bars for masterminding the bombing of Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, now wants to be identified as a woman.
Previously known as Michael Hari, he is now asking a judge to legally acknowledge her new identity and call her Emily Claire Hari. She said that a combination of right-wing misinformation and gender dysphoria fueled her "inner conflict" when she was convicted of bombing the mosque in Minnesota, reported Star Tribune.
Her defense attorney, Shannon Elkins, said in court documents that Hari wanted to make a full transition, but was aware that she would be ostracized. "Thus, as she formed a ragtag group of freedom fighters or militia men and spoke of missions to Cuba and Venezuela, Ms. Hari secretly looked up 'sex change,' 'transgender surgery,' and 'post-op transgender' on the Internet," Elkins wrote in the documents.
While she bought military fatigues (combat uniform) for their "missions," she also purchased female outfits for a Bangkok trip for male-to-female surgery. The lawyer cited these as factors in asking the judge to give Hari a 30-year prison sentence, which is the mandatory minimum for her conviction, and not the life term demanded by prosecutors. While her sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 13, Hari is also seeking an amended jail assignment considering her new gender identity, according to Fox News.
Last December, in connection with the bombing, Hari was found guilty on civil rights and hate crime charges. During the more than two-week trial in St. Paul, Hari was described as a hater of Islam and immigrants by the prosecutors for Minnesota's US Attorney's Office. According to her, the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center served as a recruiting and training ground for ISIS.
Four years ago, Hari picked up Michael McWhorter and Joe Morris in a truck filled with a 20-pound black powder bomb, rifles and a sledgehammer, and drove to Minnesota. McWhorter and Morris, who pleaded guilty, told the jury that after being instructed by Hari, they broke open a window of the mosque and threw the bomb into the imam's office while people were inside for a morning prayer. Hari, on the other hand, supervised from the truck, but denied taking part in the bombing of the mosque.
Prosecutors said in court documents, "This bomb — the defendant's bomb — was an act of terror intended to destroy the heart of a community."
Meanwhile, Hari's lawyer has described her as a misunderstood "pacifist" who lived peacefully among other cultures across the globe.
