Former Congress hopeful guilty in plan to attack Muslims

Robert Doggart, 63, who ran for Congress in Tennessee in 2014, has accepted a plea deal in federal court after an investigation discovered he was planning to attack a Muslim community in New York, court documents say.

Doggart pleaded guilty to one count of interstate communication of threats, which holds a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Doggart will be under electronic surveillance after posting a $30,000 bond while he awaits sentencing.

Doggart was initially arrested on April 10 by federal marshals and was charged with solicitation, intentionally defacing, damaging, or destroying religious property and interstate communication of threats, court documents show.

The FBI began investigating Doggart in February, when agents became aware of threatening Facebook posts by the Tennessee politician targeting an area near Hancock, N.Y., that was often referred to as "Islamberg," court documents state.

The documents give this account of the case:

Doggart wrote on Facebook that Islamberg needed to be "utterly destroyed," and the investigation by the FBI showed that he spoke with numerous individuals across the country in order to plan an attack.

During a phone call with a confidential FBI source in Texas, Doggart stated he planed to injure or kill the inhabitants of the Muslim school, mosque and cafeteria located in Hancock.

Doggart also traveled to South Carolina, where he met with individuals from an unidentified militia group and stated his M-4 assault rifle was "battle tested" and later solicited for extra "gunners" via Facebook.

The FBI found that Doggart had maps of the Hancock complex as well as literature on gun laws in New York state and spoke with an FBI informant about making Molotov cocktails in order to burn the buildings.

Magistrate Susan K. Lee decided to release Doggart under surveillance, over the objections of federal officials.

Doggart could not be reached for comment. His social-media accounts, as well as his campaign website, no longer function.

The Muslims of America, the group targeted by Doggart, issued a press release Friday stating their dissatisfaction with the court's releasing Doggart on bail.

"All would agree, if a Muslim did this, the perpetrator would be immediately identified as a terrorist then prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," said Muhammad Matthew Gardner, public-relations director for the group.

Gardner called for Doggart to be prosecuted for hate crimes and attempting to commit a terrorist act, according to the release.

According to ballotpedia.org, Doggart worked in the nuclear, fossil and hydroelectric engineering fields for the past 40 years and received 6.4 percent of the vote in the 2014 congressional election in which the incumbent, GOP Rep. Scott Desjarlais, won. Doggart ran as an independent.