Emily Claire Hari’s attorney says she was influenced by misinformation and conspiracies published by right-wing blogs like Breitbart, World Net Daily and Jihad Watch, and amplified by unnamed elected officials, according to court documents. “This degrading, anti-Muslim, and Islamophobic rhetoric and misinformation has spread throughout the United States over the past several years through social media and the internet,” attorney Shannon Elkins wrote. The militia leader who’s facing life in prison for master­minding the bombing of a Minnesota mosque now identifies as a woman, according to court documents. Emily Claire Hari — previously known as Michael Hari — is asking a judge to legally acknowledge her transgender identity. Hari, 50, says a combination of gender dysphoria and right-wing misinformation fueled her “inner conflict” during the time that she was convicted of bombing Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. Continue READING