Zimnako Salah, 46, of Phoenix, Arizona, was sentenced in the Eastern District of California to six years in prison for targeting Christian churches.
In March 2025, a jury in Sacramento convicted Salah of strapping a backpack around the toilet of a Christian church in Roseville, with the intent to convey a hoax bomb threat and to obstruct the free exercise of religion of the congregants who worshipped there.
The jury’s verdict included a special finding that Salah targeted the church because of the religion of the people who worshipped there, making the offense a hate crime.
According to the evidence at trial, from September to November of 2023, Salah traveled to four Christian churches in Arizona, California, and Colorado, wearing black backpacks. At two of those churches, Salah planted those backpacks, placing congregants in fear that they contained bombs. At the other two churches, Salah was confronted by security before he got the chance to plant those backpacks.
While Salah had been making bomb threats by planting backpacks in Christian churches, he had been building a bomb capable of fitting in a backpack. An FBI Bomb Technician searched his storage unit and seized items that an FBI Bomb Expert testified at trial served as parts of an improvised explosive device.
“Today's sentencing sends a clear message: those who target people because of their faith will face the full force of federal law,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to protect the rights of all people of faith to worship and live free from fear, and we will hold accountable anyone who threatens or harms them.”
A search of Salah’s social media records revealed that he had consumed extremist propaganda online. Specifically, those records showed that Salah had searched for videos of “Infidels dying,” and he had watched videos depicting ISIS terrorists murdering people. In a cellphone video taken days before the crimes of conviction, Defendant Salah declared, “America. We are going to destroy it.”
“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,” said 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.”
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Roseville Police Department, the San Diego Police Department, the San Diego Harbor Police Department, and the Arapahoe County (CO) Sheriff’s Office. This case was prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Christopher Perras and Trial Attorney Sarah Howard of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Shea Kenny for the Eastern District of California.
“The FBI has zero tolerance for those who target Americans based on their religious beliefs,” said FBI Sacramento Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel. “Salah sought to instill fear and disrupt Christian communities across California, Colorado, and Arizona. We are grateful for the cooperation of these churches and communities, which were vital in the investigation that led to Salah’s arrest and conviction. Today’s sentencing highlights the collective efforts of law enforcement and vigilant Americans in preventing this act of terrorism.”
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