Tennessee man convicted of planning to attack Muslims faces less prison time

The Tennessee man convicted of plotting to attack a Muslim community faces less prison time after a federal judge tossed out two of his guilty verdicts Friday.

Robert Doggart, 65, never made "true threats" against the town of Islamberg, N.Y., because he didn't personally intimidate its residents while recruiting about 10 supporters to attack the 70-acre commune in early 2015, U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier wrote in an opinion.

As a result, Collier dismissed two counts of threats in interstate commerce that jurors seemed to struggle with themselves before finding Doggart guilty of all charges at his eight-day trial in February.

"There was no evidence to support what is also required: that the words {Doggart} said to {one conspirator} were, in and of themselves, intended to further a goal through intimidation," Collier wrote. "The government tries to gloss over this lack of evidence by describing {Doggart's} goal as intimidating his victims by committing, in the future, the firebombing and killing he was discussing
"But to be a 'true threat,'" Collier concluded, "it must be the words themselves that are intended to intimidate, not any actions that may grow out of the words."

Read more: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2017/jun/03/tennessee-mconvicted-planning-attack-muslims/431518/