Man who threatened to blow up Mpls. mosque pleads guilty to felony

A man who pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal hate crime was angry at Muslims when he sent an anonymous threatening letter to the Tawfiq Islamic Center in Minneapolis last year.

That's according to federal authorities who said Daniel George Fisher, 57, who in the letter threatened to "blow up your building with all you immigrants in it." They also said the letter included profanities and racial and ethnic slurs directed at mosque worshipers.

Prosecutors say fingerprints found on the letter belonged to Fisher, who at the time lived in an apartment building a few blocks away from the mosque. However, they say they now believe Fisher is homeless.

Earlier this year, FBI agents said, Fisher admitted he wrote the letter partially because he'd become angry with Muslims since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. And they say Fisher was trying to scare members of the mosque and halt construction of a new building.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said threatening to blow up a mosque is un-American.

"It is a bedrock principle of our country, enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution, that all people are free to practice their religion of choice," said Luger. "Tens of thousands of law-abiding Muslims do so in Minnesota. The U.S. Attorney's Office and FBI will not allow any resident of our state to have that most basic freedom jeopardized by the threat of violence."

A sentencing date has not yet been set.