Judge Releases Homegrown Anti-Muslim Terrorist Because He Might Not Be A “True Threat”

Robert Doggart
On Tuesday, Federal Judge Curtis Collier instructed attorneys who had worked out a plea agreement charging Robert Doggart for interstate communication of threats, to demonstrate that Doggart represented a “true threat.” Doggart had allegedly hatched an elaborate plot to murder Muslims near Hancock, New York and he was in the process of recruiting accomplices to carry out his terrorist attack. Doggart planned to kill Muslims and to destroy several buildings including a school and a mosque.

Collier rejected the attorney’s agreement and opened the door for Doggart to be released, giving the attorney’s 21 days to demonstrate that Doggart represented a “true threat” to others. Federal Magistrate Susan Lee then reversed an earlier ruling to hold Doggart, setting him free pending disposition of his case.

The prosecutor made it clear that government officials had Doggart’s phone lines under surveillance and that he also made posts about his murderous plot on his Facebook page. In one phone call Doggart stated:

Those guys (have) to be killed. Their buildings need to be burnt down. If we can get in there and do that not losing a man, even the better

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He also shared detailed description of his planned assaults complete with maps and attack plans to other people that he hoped to recruit to assist him with his plot. During Doggart’s original detention hearing, Magistrate Lee remarked:

I find clear and convincing evidence that the defendant is a danger to the community and by the preponderance of the evidence that defendant is a risk of non-appearance. Based on the continuing nature of the offenses shown by proof and the evidence of undefined and potentially disabling mental health issues, and evidence of substance abuse issues, I conclude the defendant is a danger to the community and a risk of non-appearance and that there are no conditions or combinations of conditions that can assure defendant’s appearance or the safety of any other person and the community at this time. Defendant must therefore be detained without bail.

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Nevertheless, after Judge Collier asked the attorney’s to prove Doggart was a threat, Judge Lee released him, although she did require that he undergo psychiatric treatment, abstain from alcohol or drug use, stay off the Internet, and remain confined to his home residence.

Muslim residents of Hancock, New York were understandably dismayed by his release. Two representatives of the community, Hussein Adams and Khadijah Smith, argued:

We find it ironic and disappointing that Mr. Doggart stated during his terror attack planning that he wished not to die while killing the residents of Islamberg, and instead he wished to return home to the family he loved. Now he is indeed home under house arrest and being cared for by the family who provides him love and comfort. Where is the punishment for his evil and criminal actions?

Doggart, an ordained minister, ran a viciously right-wing campaign as an Independent candidate for Congress in Tennessee’s 4th congressional district in 2014, finishing a distant 3rd place with 6 percent of the vote. During the campaign Doggart called Obama “a liar, a traitor, and coward”, and the worst president in history. Incumbent Republican Scott DesJarlais won that race with 58 percent of the vote. Democrat Lenda Sherrell finished 2nd with 35 percent of the vote.

Sadly, Judge Collier, who facilitated Doggart’s release, was appointed to the federal bench by Bill Clinton in 1995. Exactly, what more the prosecution needs to show to establish that Doggart is a true threat to Muslim-Americans is unclear. If an accused Muslim terrorist had plotted a similar attack on non-Muslims, one can hardly imagine a federal judge dismissing the plan as perhaps not being a “true threat.” Why right-wing white Christian terrorists are not believed when they explicitly describe in detail their plans to commit mass murder, remains a mystery. If, God forbid, Doggart does go out and kill someone while he is awaiting his day in court, Judge Collier will have blood on his hands. Let us hope that day never comes.



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