Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center


Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center is a mosque in Bloomington, Minnesota. It first opened in 2011, when the Dar Al Farooq Center purchased a building that had previously been the site of Northgate Elementary School and Concordia High School. The building that now houses the mosque was also sometimes used by a Lutheran church.

2017 bombing

On August 5, 2017, at about 5 a.m. local time, an improvised explosive device detonated near the mosque, damaging an imam's office and sending smoke throughout the building. No one was hurt in the explosion. Mark Dayton, the governor of Minnesota, denounced the attack as "an act of terrorism" during a visit to the mosque. President Trump and the White House were silent on the attack, but Trump advisor Sebastian Gorka suggested it may have been a hoax orchestrated "by the left."
On August 8, hundreds of Minnesotans gathered at a soccer field near the Islamic center in a show of solidarity with Muslim Americans. Jewish and Christian faith leaders, locals, state officials, and U.S. Senator Al Franken were all in attendance.
On March 13, 2018, the FBI announced the arrest of three suspects in connection to the bombing. The suspects were identified as Michael Hari, 47, Michael McWhorter, 29, and Joe Morris, 22, all of Clarence, Illinois. McWhorter allegedly stated that the motivation behind the bombing was "'scare out of the United States'...because they push their beliefs on everyone else." The four were arrested on charges of possession of a machine gun.