A Missouri man received a two-year federal prison sentence Tuesday for leaving a series of messages threatening to kill, maim, behead and set on fire the members of the Islamic Society of Augusta.
"Whatever faith you chose, that goes to the heart of who we are as a nation," U.S. District Court Chief Judge J. Randal Hall said to Preston Howard during sentencing, the Augusta Chronicle reported.
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"You understand these (calls) are terribly offensive. And they were directed at people who sadly, because of a lot of people who think like you did ... live in constant fear."
Between June 22 and Aug. 8, 2017, Howard called the mosque eight times and left more than 20 minutes of voicemail messages, said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, executive director of the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Howard said at the hearing he is embarrassed and ashamed, according to the Chronicle. He said he was ignorant to believe that all Muslims were like the 9/11 attackers or the people in the YouTube videos he watched who beheaded children.
“For each one of you, I apologize,” Howard said.
He also was sentenced to three years of supervised release.
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