The sole gunman in a Southern California synagogue shooting in which a woman was killed told an investigator he adopted his hatred of Judaism 18 months before the fatal attack, according to a federal search warrant.
John T. Earnest, 19, also told a San Diego Sheriff’s detective that he was inspired by Adolf Hitler and the suspected gunman in the New Zealand mosque shooting last March.
The search warrant, which as unsealed in a hate crimes case against Earnest, offered a few new details about the attack on the Chabad of Poway synagogue on the last day of the Jewish holiday of Passover, including when Earnest became drawn to anti-Semitism and hated of Islam.
San Diego police found a helmet with a video camera on it in Earnest’s car when the San Diego man was arrested almost immediately after the April 27 shooting, which killed 60-year-old Lori Kaye and injured three others. He had an AR-15 rifle in the vehicle. It was previously known that Earnest said on the 8chan website that he planned to stream the attack live on Facebook. He never did.
“At that time, Earnest did not appear to be under the influence of a controlled substance but did appear to have a ‘flat affect’ as though he was detached or unaffected by his actions,” the warrant states in recounting an interview that he gave to a San Diego police detective immediately after he was detained.
Earnest, an accomplished student and pianist, has pleaded not guilty to a 113-count federal indictment and faces charges of murder and attempted murder in state court, both of which may make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted. He also pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges of trying to burn a mosque in the nearby city of Escondido.
Those charges also include attempted arson at a mosque in nearby Escondido a month earlier.
A federal affidavit describes a deeply disturbed man filled with hatred toward Jews and Muslims, which is detailed in online writings. Earnest claimed to be inspired by the attacks on the mosques in New Zealand and a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue last fall.
Court documents said Earnest dialed 911 after fleeing the house of worship in his car and said: “I just shot up a synagogue.” He went on to tell the dispatcher that he did it “because Jewish people are destroying the white race,” according to the affidavit. He was arrested without a struggle.
(AP)
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3 Responses
Baruch haShem that:
1- he could only buy 10round magazines in California,
2-You can only buy semi auto rifles with”assault style features” in California that do not have an easily detachable magazine;
3-He did not seem to know how to change the magazine after 10 rounds, due to the difficulties caused by point 2. As a result, he abandoned his attack after just 10rounds.
These three factors united to save many innocent Yidden on that fateful morning.
chareidi amiti, if you think that California law banning 10+ rounds magazines prevented the shooter from obtaining larger capacity magazine than you are a bigger fool than i thought.
chareidi amiti
No, Baruch Hashem that His messengers like the Rabbi, Veteran, and Border patrol fellow received the courage and strength to act. Those three factors united to safe many innocent Yidden. You really need to do your research before you extol gun control schemes that only restrain the law-abiding.
If you are a law-abiding guy going about his business who doesn’t get to choose when evil comes your way, would you want to have a 10 round magazine or a 30 round magazine? Killers plan their attack months in advance. They fill up knapsacks with magazines, irregardless of how limited in size they are. So any magazine limit you give them, they will plan around or not care about. He could have bought magazines out of state or driven to a gang area and buy whatever gun he desires from a car trunk (illegal, but not like he cares when he expects to face murder charges). You can also buy semi-auto rifles that have no “Assault features” (which is a silly gun-control term for cosmetic appearances), and then the magazine is easily detachable.
Yes, laws relating to background checks and gun crime penalties don’t affect the law abiding. However the kind of laws you admire, such as Gun free zones and banning ownership of certain weapons and magazines do affect the law abiding and make it an uneven playing field favoring the bad guy every single time.