CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – An East Tennessee man has pleaded not guilty to soliciting another person to burn down a mosque in a small Muslim enclave in New York.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press (http://bit.ly/1CBFj42 ) reports that 63-year-old Robert Doggart entered his plea during a Monday arraignment in a Chattanooga federal court.
Protesters gathered outside the courthouse, demanding that Doggart, a resident of Sequatchie County and a 2014 congressional candidate, be charged with a hate crime and kept behind bars while he is tried.
Doggart agreed to plead guilty in April to a charge of plotting an attack that involved killing residents and burning at least three buildings in "Islamberg," a self-named community outside Hancock, New York. The plea agreement was thrown out by a federal judge in June.
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Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.timesfreepress.com
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