A jury on Thursday found a 26-year-old Lauderdale man guilty of attempted murder and assault for shooting at five Somali men last summer, wounding two of them, in what many Muslims considered a hate crime.

The jury deliberated for a day and a half before finding Anthony John Sawina guilty on all nine counts. His mother sobbed as the Hennepin District Court clerk read the verdicts.

"The evidence showed that his conduct was reprehensible and shocking," County Attorney Mike Freeman said after the verdict. Freeman said he would seek a prison sentence "north of 20 years" for Sawina.

Sawina was with a group of friends in Dinkytown about 2:30 a.m. on June 29 when they saw five Somali men, including one who was wearing traditional clothing for Ramadan.

As the Somalis were in a car, they heard someone from Sawina's group say "[expletive] Muslims."

After at least one of the men got out of the car to confront the group, witnesses testified that Sawina said "I'm saying [expletive] Muslims. What are you going to do about it?"

Sawina pulled out a handgun and pointed it toward the windshield, according to the charges. He walked around to the back of the car and fired at least twice through an open door, hitting two men in the back seat in the legs. Another bullet nearly hit the driver's head. Sawina did not report the shooting to police. Instead, a witness identified him as the shooter to police, who arrested him about a month later.

"The defendant made an intentional and premeditated decision to kill the young men in that car," assistant county attorney Pat Lofton said in his closing arguments. "He said, 'I have a permit to carry and I'm going to kill you all.' "

He noted that Sawina squared up and aimed before he shot, and fired as the car was driven away.

A friend with Sawina that night testified that there was no reason to shoot at the men.

Sawina's attorney, Murad Mohammad, argued that his client fired after being threatened. Sawina testified last Friday that one of the men he confronted before the shooting told him he had a gun permit. After Sawina pulled his gun, he said he saw the driver bend down, and believed he was reaching for a gun.

Mohammad told the jury on Tuesday that running away from the scene was not evidence of guilt, noting the racial tensions surrounding the case. After the shooting, local Muslim leaders said it was part of a rising tide of Islamophobia. U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison called for a Department of Justice investigation.

While Sawina was not charged with a hate crime, Freeman said that was because the charge under Minnesota law would not have added any prison time. The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension classified the shooting as a bias-motivated incident.

"This certainly has all sorts of elements of a hate crime," Freeman said.

Brandon Stahl • 612-673-4626