Six Years, Plot Targeting Christian Churches, Share Facebook — Arizona Man Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Plot Targeting Christian Churches | United States Justice Department.
And it affirms that people of all religions should be able to worship freely and exercise their First Amendment rights in this country without fear of violence.”“The FBI has zero tolerance for those who target Americans based on their religious beliefs,” said FBI Sacramento Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel. announcement Arizona Man Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Plot Targeting Christian Churches Friday, November 7, 2025 Share Facebook X LinkedIn Email For Immediate Release Office of Public Affairs Zimnako Salah, 46, of Phoenix, Arizona, was sentenced today in the Eastern
District of California to six years in prison in connection with his plot targeting Christian churches.In March 2025, a jury in Sacramento convicted Salah of strapping a backpack around the toilet of a Christian church in Roseville, with the intent to convey a hoax bomb threat and to obstruct the free exercise of religion of the congregants who worshipped there. “The Justice Department will continue to protect the rights of all people of faith to worship and live free from fear, and we will hold accountable anyone who threatens or harms them.”“Salah’s
seeming ultimate goal to bomb a Christian church would have resulted in many deaths and injuries if his plan had not been thwarted,” said U.S. Attorney Eric Grant. Today’s sentence is justified by the history and characteristics of this defendant and serves to protect the public from this defendant. Today’s sentencing highlights the collective efforts of law enforcement and vigilant Americans in preventing this act of terrorism.”This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Roseville Police Department, the San Diego Police Department, the San Diego Harbor Police Department, and the Arapahoe