Real American terrorists

A series of attacks on a mosque, an abortion clinic, and a railroad line looked like the work of a three-man militia, but newly unsealed court documents suggest the alleged bombers might have been following orders from “higher ups” in a network of extremist groups.

In March, feds arrested Michael Hari, Michael McWhorter, and Joe Morris for allegedly bombing a Minnesota mosque, attempting to bomb a women’s health clinic, attempting to ransom a stretch of Illinois railroad, owning a machine gun, and carrying out a series of robberies. The trio appeared to be the principal members of a tiny right-wing group calling itself the “Illinois Patriot Freedom Fighters 3% Militia” or the “White Rabbits.” The group was a small-time anti-government militia that dabbled in a number of extreme causes, from “armed rebellion” against Illinois to encouraging neighbors to buy into “White Rabbit Money,” a fake currency.

But the White Rabbits might not have been as isolated as their separatist platform made them appear.

Hari, the suspected ringleader, was in communication with other militia groups, and took orders for “missions” from “higher-ups,” according to a May search warrant, the unsealing of which was first reported by Champaign, Illinois’ News-Gazette.

Shortly after the trio’s arrest in March, McWhorter and Morris turned on Hari, offering investigators information on Hari’s communications, according to a search warrant for the contents of an email account with Protonmail, an encrypted email service.

McWhorter “told agents that Hari talked about ‘higher ups’ and identified two people Hari identified as ‘Ben Lewis’ and ‘Congo Joe,’” according to an affidavit in support of the search warrant.