Arizona man convicted of targeting Roseville Christian church with hoax bomb threat
ROSEVILLE — An Arizona man was convicted of strapping a backpack to a toilet at a Christian church in Roseville with the intent of conveying a hoax bomb threat, officials said Friday.
The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Public Affairs said that Zimnako Sakah, 45, of Phoenix, targeted the Christian church "because of the religion of the people who worshipped there," labeling it a hate crime.
Evidence shows that Sakah performed similar actions at a total of four Christian churches in California, Arizona and Colorado, the DOJ said. Sakah successfully planted the backpacks at two of the churches and was confronted by security at the other two before he could do so.
While Sakah was making or attempting to make these false bomb threats, the DOJ said he had been building a bomb that would be able to fit in a backpack. A search of Sakah's storage unit also uncovered "component parts of an improvised explosive device," the DOJ said.
Sakah's social media records were also searched, and investigators found evidence he had viewed extremist propaganda materials. The DOJ noted that Sakah has specifically searched for videos of "Infidels dying" and viewed videos of ISIS terrorists murdering people.
Salah is scheduled to be sentenced on July 6 in federal court. He faces up to six years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the DOJ said.
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