Bombed Mosque Members and Imams Choose Restorative Justice Over Punishment
(Photo: Aaron Lavinsky / AP)
Over 100 Clergy Sign Letter in solidarity, asking judge for mercy for individuals involved in bombing of Dar Al Farooq
Minnesota Clergy members and faith leaders wishing to sign, may do so here.
A press conference will take place before the hearing at 8am, Tuesday, April 12th, outside the Federal Courthouse in Saint Paul.
April 11th, 2022
The Honorable Donovan W. Frank 316 Robert St N Ste 724,
Saint Paul, MN 55101
Dear Sir,
We are writing to you as leaders from Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center, the Muslim community, and other faith communities in Minnesota, to ask that the court exercise compassion and grant a sentence reduction to the plaintiffs in the case of Michael McWhorter and Joe Morris.
In the early morning of Aug. 5, 2017, the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota was bombed by three individuals. Emily Claire Hari, formerly known as Michael Hari, Michael McWhorter and Joe Morris sought to terrorize an entire faith community. This bombing, without a doubt, is one of the most disturbing and horrifying events in the Minnesota faith community’s history. Not only was it traumatic for the victims, Dar al-Farooq’s members, and staff, but it showed a level of intolerance that caused ripple effects throughout our state’s congregations (Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and others).
Our community continues to digest and recover from this instance of hate, but we will not let it change our outlook for the future. That is why we are writing this letter to the court, to ask Your Honor to grant clemency towards Michael McWhorter and Joe Morris. While Emily Hari has shown zero remorse, Michael McWhorter and Joe Morris have taken accountability for their actions and have expressed profound regret, as well as a marked understanding of how they were able to become radicalized to the point of committing this heinous crime. We believe that this is not a hollow attempt to accept responsibility in exchange for a lighter sentence but a deeper change in their being after coming out from under the influence of an evil manipulator.
The harm that was done is real, the crime that was committed is real, the horror of what happened that day is real, but what’s also real is our opportunity to offer real forgiveness, and lead by example. We believe that only through forgiveness can we have any real chance to heal and move forward. As leaders of the faith community, we feel morally compelled at this moment to use our voice and convey the voices of the community members we serve. We urge the courts to view justice through the lens of what will not only best serve society as a whole, but what will best represent the interests and needs of the communities most affected. The attack on August 5, 2017, was an attack on a sacred space, a space of worship, a space of religious values, a space where one seeks out their higher moral self. While we may diverge on theological points, mercy, forgiveness, and the opportunity for redemption is shared by every faith.
Minnesota’s faith-based communities have stood by the Dar Al-Farooq and Muslim community in support and solidarity after the bombing took place as we called for accountability and justice. Minnesota’s faith-based communities stand once again by the Dar Al-Farooq and Muslim community in support and solidarity as we call today for justice that respects the values that were targeted on August 5, 2017 and restores the humanity Emily Hari sought to demonize and destroy.
At a moment when our country has been torn in half by the continuous sorting of human beings into categories of evil and hero, worthy and deplorable, good soul and bad soul, bad communities, and good communities, we find the need for the court to exercise a nuanced and restorative approach to justice in this case more necessary. Michael McWhorter and Joe Morris did something horrible, heinous, and the damage of their actions might not heal itself in their lifetimes. However, Michael McWhorter and Joe Morris are two young men whose self and souls extend well beyond the short time in their life they temporarily were plunged downwards into the darkness of Emily Hari’s world. They have families, they have futures, they have a message that our country and other young men susceptible to hate desperately to need to hear. They deserve forgiveness.
Sincerely,
- Imam Mohamed Omar
Dar Alfarooq Islamic Center - Imam Asad Zaman
Executive Director. Muslim American Society of Minnesota - Reverend Dr. Curtiss DeYoung
CEO. Minnesota Council of Churches - Rabbi Adam Stock Spilker Mount Zion Temple
- Bishop Ann Svennungsen
Minneapolis Area Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - Bishop Patricia Lull
Saint Paul Area Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - Presiding Pastor Shari Prestemon
- Bishop David Bard
Minnesota Conference of The United Methodist Church - Bishop Bill Tesch
Northwestern Minnesota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman Temple Israel
- Abdulahi Farah
Lead Organizer. Muslim Coalition
- Pastor James Erlandson
Lutheran Church of the Redeemer - Pastor Arthur Murray
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - Rabbi Arielle Lekach-Rosenberg Shir Tikvah
- Presiding Elder Stacey L. Smith MCC, President of the Board
- Elona Street-Stewart
Synod Executive. Synod of Lakes and Prairies, PCUSA - Pastor Kathy Redig AllAreOne Catholic church
- Pastor Jane McBride
First Congregational Church of MN, United Church of Christ - Reverend Natalia Terfa
ELCA, Prince of Peace Brooklyn Park
20.Reverend Lauren Davis First UCC
- Pastor Hans Jorgensen St Timothy Lutheran
- Minister Kirsten Kessel
First Lutheran Church of Crystal - Pastor Liesl Spitz
St Timothy Lutheran Church - Johanna Osman
Executive Director. Sakan Community Resource - Senior Pastor John Nelson Gethsemane Lutheran Church
26.Sister Barbara Thomalla
27. Reverend Roberta Haskin Unitarian Universalist Assn
28.Joel Abrahamson
Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church
29.Pastor Christa Forsythe Immanuel Lutheran Church
30.Reverend Allan Negstad St. James Lutheran
- Reverend Peter Weston Miller Trinity Lutheran
- Pastor Andrew Davis Union Presbyterian
- Pastor Becky Swanson
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - Rabbi Emma Kippley-Ogman
Macalester College Center for Religious and Spiritual Life - Pastor Kate Reuer Welton
Lutheran Campus Ministry Twin Cities - Pastor Linidsay Jacaruso
First Presbyterian Church of Mankato - Executive Director Karen Wills
MN Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance
38.Chaplain Grady St. Dennis Gustavus Adolphus College
39. Isaiah Team Member David Hahn
St Joan of Arc Community in South Minneapolis
40.Rabbi Alexander Davis Beth El Synagogue
- Lead Pastor Peter Christ
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church - Pastor Korla Masters
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - Clergy Nathan Roberts
United Church of Christ Minnesota - Deacon Lauren Morse-Wendt Edina Community Lutheran Church
- Senior Pastor Bradley Froslee St. Michael’s Lutheran church
46.Co-Pastor T. Michael Rock Robbinsdale Parkway UCC
47. Senior Pastor Pamela Fickenscher St. John’s Lutheran Church
48.Julica Hermann de la Fuente
Director of Liberation and Transformation Ministries. First Universalist Church of Minneapolis
49.Teaching Pastor Todd Bratulich Upper Room Community
50.Minister Laura Thompson MN Valley UU Fellowship
- Pastor Jeffrey Sartain
Edina Community Lutheran Church - Reverend Dr. Theresa Mason United Methodist Church
- Rabbi Michael Latz
- Senior Minister Jennifer Crow First Universalist Church
- Rabbi Sharon Stiefel Mayim Rabim
- Anantanand Rambachan
Emeritus Professor of Religion, Saint Olaf College - Rabbi Shoshana Dworsky
- Reverend Jeffrey Hansen
- Reverend Mark Hanson
60. Reverend Hayley Grey 61. Reverend Thomas Duke 62.Reverend Kjell Ferris
63. Reverend Julia Nerbonne
64. Lead Pastor Rory Philstrom Christ the King Lutheran Church
65. Pastoral Associate Anne Attea Church of the Ascension
66.Reverend Andrea Johnson MN Valley UU Fellowship
67. Rabbi Emeritus Norman Cohen Bet Shalom Congregation
68.Assistant Minister Sara Goodman White Bear UU Church
69. Zan Christ Multifaith Practitioner
- Pastor Eric Hoffer Salem Lutheran (North Minneapolis)
- Pastor John Marboe Zion Lutheran Church
- Reverend Ben Connelly Minnesota Zen Meditation Center
- Melissa Miller the Catholic Church
- Sumera Islam
- Imam Ahmed Anshur Alihsan Islamic Center
- Minister Phillip Romine Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area
- Reverend Anna Helgen
Edina Community Lutheran Church - Rabbi Morris Allen Beth Jacob
- Pastor Rev. Matthias Peterson-Brandt
80.Imam Ibrahim Sharif Dar Al Farooq
81. Pastor H David Stewart Presbytery of Twin Cities Area
82.Peter Anderson
Director of Formation. Peace Catalyst International
83.Reverend Laurie Eaton ELCA Clergy, retired
84.Reverend Rita Capezzi
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Mankato
85.Pastor Bradley Schmeling Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
86.Executive Director Yusuf Abdulle Islamic Association of North America
87. Reverend Dr. Rebecca Voelkel Lyndale United Church of Christ
88.Rabbi Jill Crimmings Bet Shalom
89.Faith Organizer Allison Connelly-Vetter Center for Sustainable Justic
90.Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg
91. Reverend Dr. Paula Nordhem United Church of Christ
92.Reverend Sara Smalley
UU Fellowship of Northfield
93.Priest Bussho Lahn Flying Cloud Zen
94.Imam Mohamud Wardere Darul Iman
95. Rabbi Esther Adler Esther Adler Mount Zion Temple
96.Craig Pederson
Assistant to the Bishop. Minneapolis Area Synod, ELCA
97. Rabbi Tobias Moss Temple Israel
98.Pastor Karen Bruins Lake Harriet UMC
99.Pastor Elisabeth Johnson
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
100. Minister JaNaé Bates ISAIAH
101. Pastor Mark Boorsma Ascension Lutheran Church
102. Lead Pastor Jen Nagel University Lutheran Church of Hope
103. Jaylani Hussein
Executive Director. CAIR-Minnesota
