Four Men Arrested in Illinois for Machine Gun Possession

Four East Central Illinois men are in federal custody after being charged with possession of a machine gun, a crime that investigators say is linked to domestic terrorism and two explosive attacks on religious and medical facilities. The suspects—Michael B. Hari, 47; Joe Morris, 22; Michael McWhorter, 29; and Ellis Mack, 18—were all arrested in connection with a criminal complaint unsealed this morning. All four are from Clarence, Ill., a remote farming community 35 miles north of Champaign-Urbana.

Michael B. Hari was taken into custody this morning while en route to a state court hearing in Ford County, Ill., where he faces an unrelated assault charge. FBI agents moved swiftly to apprehend him before the state proceedings began, signaling the federal government’s heightened interest in his activities. Hari, along with Morris, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long in Urbana this afternoon. McWhorter and Mack are scheduled for initial appearances at a later date set by the U.S. Clerk of the Court.

The affidavit backing the criminal complaint alleges the four men possessed fully automatic assault rifles between October 2017 and March 2018. But the charges go beyond weapons violations. Federal agents claim that Hari, McWhorter, and Morris are responsible for the August 5, 2017 bombing of a mosque in Bloomington, Minn., and the failed attempt to bomb the Women’s Health Practice in Champaign, Ill. on November 7, 2017—a clinic that provides reproductive health services.

This morning, FBI and ATF agents executed search warrants at two locations tied to Hari: the Paxton, Ill. home of his parents, where he frequently stays due to the lack of running water and electricity at his own residence, and a store and office he owns at 100 S. Main Road in Clarence. Evidence collected at these sites is believed to include digital records, weapons components, and materials tied to explosive devices.

The investigation is being led by the FBI’s Springfield and Minneapolis Divisions, with support from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, University of Illinois Police Department, Ford County Sheriff’s Office, Champaign Police Department, and Illinois State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason M. Bohm and Eugene L. Miller are prosecuting the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Urbana, in coordination with federal prosecutors in Minnesota.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Cox and U.S. Attorney John E. Childress confirmed the arrests and charges this morning. They emphasized that while the complaint outlines serious allegations, the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The case has ignited tension across central Illinois, where residents are grappling with the reality that domestic extremism may have taken root in their rural communities.

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