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Dustin Allen Hughes, Threatening a Place of Religious Worship, Florida 2024
Dustin Allen Hughes, a 26-year-old man from Cutler Bay, Florida, has pleaded guilty to a hate crime for threatening to blow up a mosque in Pembroke Pines, Florida.
According to the plea agreement, on May 5, Hughes called the Jamaat Ul Muttaqeen Mosque of Pembroke Pines and left a threatening voicemail message, denigrating Islam and stating that he had a detonator and would blow up the mosque. The message was so severe that law enforcement was immediately contacted and responded to the scene, but no bomb was found after a thorough search of the mosque.
Hughes admitted to leaving the threatening message during his plea hearing, where he also admitted to making the statement that he was ‘going to blow your . . . temple up’ and ‘you guys are all going to be up in flames after I’m done with you.’
The FBI’s Miami Area Corruption Task Force, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Pembroke Pines Police Department, the Miami-Dade Police Department, and the City of Miami Police Department all assisted in the investigation, which was led by the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Davis of the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Samantha Trepel of the Civil Rights Division.
The maximum sentence for the crime is 20 years in prison, and Hughes is scheduled to be sentenced on September 6 in front of U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno in Miami. Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore emphasized that the Justice Department will not tolerate threats of hate violence, which threaten an entire community’s sense of safety and security.
United States Attorney Benjamin Greenberg for the Southern District of Florida stated that his office is committed to protecting the right to freely exercise one’s religious beliefs, and that obstructing this right by force or threat of force constitutes a hate crime that will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Robert F. Lasky, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Miami Field Office, also emphasized the importance of protecting the right to freedom of religion, stating that the FBI and its partners will work tirelessly to ensure anyone who threatens those rights is held accountable.
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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