PHOENIX (LifeSiteNews) — An Arizona resident will spend six years in prison for his role in a multi-state series of bomb threats against churches, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced.

Back in March, Phoenix resident Zimnako Salah was convicted of planting a black backpack in a church restroom in Roseville, California, for the purpose of making congregants believe it contained a bomb. Prosecutors presented evidence that he had attempted to do the same at a total of four churches across Arizona, California, and Colorado, succeeding at two and being stopped by security at the other two.

While those threats were mere hoaxes, investigators did find improvised explosive device (IED) components in his storage unit, indicating he intended to eventually graduate to the real thing.

His motive appears to have been Islamic radicalism, as he had searched for and viewed online videos of ISIS jihadis murdering so-called “infidels” and was videotaped himself declaring, “America. We are going to destroy it.” His acts were further designated hate crimes due to being motivated by the religion of the churches’ attendees.

“Today’s sentencing sends a clear message: those who target people because of their faith will face the full force of federal law,” declared Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.

“Salah’s seeming ultimate goal to bomb a Christian church would have resulted in many deaths and injuries if his plan had not been thwarted,” added U.S. Attorney Eric Grant. “Thanks to the action of church security, local law enforcement, and the FBI, this defendant was stopped before he had a chance to carry out the crimes he sought to commit. Today’s sentence is justified by the history and characteristics of this defendant and serves to protect the public from this defendant. And it affirms that people of all religions should be able to worship freely and exercise their First Amendment rights in this country without fear of violence.”

While the threat of Islamic terrorism on U.S. soil has largely taken a backseat to dueling claims of “domestic extremism” in recent years, it has not disappeared entirely. Last year, the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security released a report finding that, from April 2021 to September 2024, there were more than 50 cases across 29 states, including individuals who planned terrorist acts, received support from terrorist groups, or attempted to aid terrorist groups including ISIS, Hezbollah, and al-Qaeda.