Zimnako Salah, 46, of Phoenix, was sentenced to six years for planting fake bombs at Christian churches in a hate-motivated plot across three states.
Phoenix, AZ. — Zimnako Salah, 46, of Phoenix, Arizona, was sentenced to six years in federal prison for a hate crime plot targeting Christian churches across three states.
In March 2025, a federal jury in Sacramento convicted Salah of placing a backpack in a Roseville, California, church to simulate a bomb and obstruct the free exercise of religion. Jurors found that Salah’s actions were motivated by hostility toward Christians, qualifying the offense as a hate crime.
According to trial evidence, between September and November 2023, Salah visited four Christian churches in Arizona, California, and Colorado, wearing black backpacks. At two locations, he planted those backpacks, prompting evacuations and fear among congregants. Security personnel intercepted him at two other churches before he could act…