Tennessee man with plans to attack a Muslim community appears in court

Robert Doggart

For the full, updated story check here: Prosecution unveils confidential source who spoke to Signal Mountain man accused of plotting to kill Muslims

Federal agents began tracking a 65-year-old Tennessee man for making plans to attack a Muslim community in New York after a confidential informant approached them with information, prosecutors told jurors this morning on the first day of his trial.

Robert Doggart began asking people in South Carolina and elsewhere for manpower while he formulated a plan to burn down mosques at Islamberg in early 2015, prosecutor Saeed Mody said today in Chattanooga's federal district court downtown.

That led to the Federal Bureau of Information requesting a wiretap from U.S. District Judge Harry Mattice in March 2015. After Mattice granted it, authorities recorded conversations that Doggart had for about the next month before he was taken into custody, records show.

Mody was the first to speak to the 12-person jury after attorneys spent the morning whittling down a pool of 32.

Doggart faces a four-count federal indictment and has previously pleaded not guilty to the accusations.

The trial is expected to last about one week.

Please check later for updates.