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Arizona Man Gets Six Years for Hate-Crime Hoax Bomb Threats at Christian Churches

Investigators credit church security with halting the plot after an FBI-led probe uncovered IED components.

Overview

  • Salah was sentenced Friday in federal court to six years in prison following his March conviction in the Sacramento area.
  • Jurors issued a special finding that he targeted a Roseville church because of congregants’ religion, qualifying the offense as a hate crime.
  • From September to November 2023, he went to four churches in Arizona, California, and Colorado, planting hoax backpacks at two sites and being stopped at two others.
  • An FBI search of his Colorado storage unit recovered materials consistent with a backpack-sized IED, including nails, ball bearings, wiring, a battery, and fuel canisters.
  • Prosecutors said coordinated work by church security, local police, and the FBI prevented an actual bombing, with evidence showing he viewed extremist propaganda and recorded anti-American rhetoric.