Colar, who is Black and Muslim, represented himself during parts of his trial. He asked jurors if they believed “law enforcement has a history of persecuting Black religious organizations,” according to the 9th Circuit. Colar also made statements to prospective jurors suggesting he believed he was unfairly targeted by law enforcement.
One juror reacted negatively to those statements, saying when Colar spoke, “all that came out was discrimination, conspiracy theories, and police corruption.” The juror told the judge he could be impartial and had his own personal experiences with discrimination, but expressed strong skepticism to Colar’s claims of police bias and corruption.