Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California
Zimnako Salah, a 45-year-old man from Phoenix, Arizona, has been convicted by a federal jury for charges related to his plot against Christian churches—an act characterized as a hate crime due to his deliberate targeting of these houses of worship because of the religion practiced there. Found guilty of attempting to obstruct the free exercise of religion by concocting a hoax bomb threat, Salah’s case concluded with a verdict on Thursday, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.
During an 11-day trial, evidence surfaced that between September and November of 2023, Salah visited four Christian churches across Arizona, California, and Colorado. While the congregants were placed in fear from the black backpacks he carried, resembling potential explosive devices, twice security intercepted Salah before he fulfilled his plan. Following the jury’s deliberation, they found that Salah’s intent was to intimidate the practitioners based on their faith, thus elevating his deeds to the gravity of a hate crime…