PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A Phoenix man learned his punishment on Friday for targeting Christian churches with fake bombs in what was later determined to be hate crimes.
The Department of Justice said 46-year-old Zimnako Salah was sentenced to six years in prison.
In September 2023, he left a backpack in the sanctuary of a Scottsdale church that looked like a bomb. However, a pillow and other clothing were found inside.
In November of that year, he strapped a backpack around a toilet at a Christian church in Roseville, California, a suburb of Sacramento. A church volunteer unzipped the backpack and found a pillow.
Federal prosecutors say Zimnako Salah, 44, left backpacks at two churches and was involved in suspicious incidents at two others, including one in Arizona.(U.S. Attorney’s Office)
He tried to put suspicious backpacks in another California church and another in Colorado but security confronted him before he could do anything.
Investigators said Salah had been building a bomb that could fit into a backpack while making the fake threats. They found some of those bomb-making materials, such as ball bearings, nails and butane cylinders, at his Colorado storage shed.
He had also searched online for videos of “infidels dying” and watched videos of ISIS terrorists murdering people. He also said in a cellphone video that he wanted to destroy America
He was indicted in February 2024.
In April, a jury found Salah guilty of conveying a bomb threat hoax for the Roseville incident. Officials classified the incident as a hate crime, as the jury found that Salah targeted the church because of its religion.
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