The former U.S. Congressional candidate from Tennessee who has been accused of conspiring to murder the members of a Muslim community in Delaware County is on trial in Federal Court in Chattanooga.

65 year old Robert Doggart is accused of trying to rally supporters to burn Islamberg to the ground, killing men, women and children and destroying homes and the mosque at the settlement in Hancock.

Doggart allegedly went online and conversed over the phone to try to organize a sort of militia armed with guns and Molotov cocktails to destroy the community.

The former politician had pleaded guilty in May of 2015 to one count of interstate communication of threats but a Federal Judge tossed out the plea as inadequate and a new indictment was handed down.

Doggart has since pleaded not guilty to solicitation to commit a civil rights violation, solicitation to commit arson and two counts of threat in interstate commerce.

 

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