To say that Mac McKinney used to be Islamophobic would be an understatement.

Until about 16 years ago, the U.S. army veteran believed that Muslims were inherently evil.

It was a hatred that had found a home inside me, and basically became so powerful that I have often described it as being another organ in my body.

Powered by that hatred, McKinney concocted a plan to build an improvised explosive device and blow up the mosque in his hometown of Muncie, Ind.

His goal, he says, was to kill at least 200 people.

But within eight months of first stepping foot inside the Islamic Center of Muncie, he not only abandoned his plan, but he joined the mosque and converted to Islam.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/stranger-at-the-gate-1.6743300