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A Trump supporter, who publicly threatened to kill Muslims and made a bomb which he was planning to use against Muslims in his home state of California, received a sentence of only 90 days in jail, according to local media reports Friday.
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William Celli was arrested in late December last year after being reported for posting a picture of a homemade pipe bomb on social media. The same day he posted the picture, the 55-year-old was also reported for shouting “I’m going to kill you all,” at the Islamic Society of West Contra Costa County, California.
But it took the police two weeks to arrest him after they had received the reports, The Guardian reported. The police arrested him and searched his house and found an explosive device he had prepared.
After evacuating the surrounding area, the device was detonated in a controlled explosion by the bomb squad.
The man had expressed support for controversial Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. “Donald Trumps on again I’m happy leaders okay but this guys a great point man I’ll follow this MAN to the end of the world,” Celli wrote on Facebook in October.
Trump has been calling for a ban on all Muslims from entering the United States and said that most Mexican immigrants are rapists and criminals. He has been accused of being an Islamophobe and a racist.
All criminal charges against Celli were dropped as he accepted a plea deal that places him on probation for a further three years and bans him from operating an active Facebook profile. He pled guilty for attempting to violate the free exercise of civil rights
While Muslims organizations welcomed the sentence this week, several people took to social media to express their disappointment over the lenient sentence, arguing that had Celli been a Muslim or of Middle Eastern origins, he would have received a significantly harsher sentence.
So a man who is a Trump supporter has been jailed for 90 days for planning a bomb attack on a masjid. 90 days for a terrorist attack? K den
— #MuslimPersecution (@UmmWhatever1) March 26, 2016
In fact, three brothers from the Duke family of Albanian Muslim immigrants are currently serving life sentences for allegedly planning an attack on Fort Dix military base in New Jersey, Think Progress website said.
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The Intercept website revealed last year that several people familiar with the investigation and the Duke brothers case have dismissed any wrongdoing by the brothers and argued their conviction was politically motivated.
The brothers were sentenced despite being caught on tape multiple times denying any intent to undertake such an attack. They were arrested while illegally buying firearms.
Trump supporter gets 90 days in jail for having a bomb and planning to kill Muslims at a Mosque.. Imagine if it was a muslim with the bomb
— maX (@MaximillianRA) March 25, 2016
Muslims around the U.S. are bracing for an increase of attacks against their communities amid increasing hate speech by leading Republican candidates as well as a backlash from recent attacks in Brussels and Paris.
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