A former candidate for a Tennessee congressional seat has admitted to making threats that included burning down a mosque, school, and cafeteria in a Muslim community in New York State. Despite the threats, he was released after posting $30,000 bail.
Robert R. Doggart, 63, was apprehended by the FBI before he took
action on an area known as “Islamberg” near the town of
Hancock in Delaware County, New York.
He accepted a plea deal in federal court, admitting guilt to one
count of interstate communication threats, a penalty that calls
for a maximum five years in prison. Doggart posted a $30,000 bond
and will be monitored by electronic surveillance while he awaits
sentencing.
In 2014, Doggart ran as an independent in the race for
Tennessee’s 4th congressional district. He garnered 6 percent of
the vote, according to Ballotpedia.org. He “has worked in
the nuclear, fossil, hydroelectric and associated engineering
fields for the past 40 years,” according to his profile on
the site.
According to court documents reported late Sunday by the Press & Sun-Bulletin, Doggart was
arrested on April 10 in Signal Mountain, Tennessee, by federal
law enforcement. He was charged with solicitation, intentionally
defacing, damaging or destroying religious property, and
interstate communication of threats.
READ MORE: Sovereign citizens seen as top
terrorist threat by US law enforcement
The FBI was first alerted to Doggart in February based on
statements made on Facebook.
“Target 3 [Islamberg] is vulnerable from many approaches and
must be utterly destroyed,” Doggart wrote, according to the
plea agreement filed in the US District Court of the Eastern
District of Tennessee.
He told an FBI source during a March 6 phone conversation that he
intended to injure or kill those inside a Muslim school, mosque,
and cafeteria in Hancock.
“Those guys have to be killed,” Doggart said, according
to legal documents. “Their buildings need to be burnt down.
If we can get in there and do that not losing a man, even the
better.”
During one recorded phone conversation, Doggart offered graphic
examples of his strategy. Calling himself the operation’s
“standoff gunner,” he was prepared to shoot people in
the community, his lawyers wrote in the plea agreement.
“We will burn down their buildings (and) if anyone attempts
to, uh, harm us in any way, our stand gunner will take them down
from 350 yards away. The standoff gunner would be me,” he
said, according to the affidavit.
“We’re gonna be carrying an M4 with 500 rounds of ammunition,
light armour piercing, a pistol with three extra magazines, and a
machete.
“And if it gets down to the machete, we will cut them to
shreds.”
Doggart eventually met with potential co-conspirators in South
Carolina who were affiliated with an unidentified militia group.
He claimed his own M-4 assault rifle was “battle tested”
as he solicited for extra “gunners” on Facebook. He told
anyone interested in joining him that they should consider arming
themselves with AR-15 and M-16 rifles.
He justified the action by claiming residents of the
“Islamberg” community were “planning a terrorist
attack.”
Upon Doggart’s arrest, the FBI found maps of Hancock — which is
about 145 miles northwest of New York City — and information on
gun laws in New York State.
US Magistrate Susan K. Lee, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, allowed
Doggart’s release under surveillance despite the objection of
federal officials, the Press & Sun-Bulletin reported.
The Muslims of America Inc., an organization affiliated with the
targeted Muslim community, said it will speak publicly on
Doggart’s plot at 4 pm ET on Monday in Binghamton, New York. The
group issued a statement on Friday expressing dismay over
Doggart’s release on bail.
“Doggart is an example of the results of unchecked and
rampant Islamophobia which has spread lies for years about our
peaceful community,” said Muhammad Matthew Gardner,
public-relations director for Muslims of America Inc..
“All would agree, if a Muslim did this, the perpetrator would
be immediately identified as a terrorist then prosecuted to the
fullest extent of the law.”
Gardner added that Doggart should be prosecuted for hate crimes
and for attempting to commit a terrorist act.
The predominantly Muslim community in upstate New York has often
been the target of right-wing allegations that it harbors
jihadist camps, though local police reported finding no evidence
of such claims, according to The Independent in the UK.
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