Attack on a synagogue in Poway

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On April 27, 2019, one person was killed and three others were injured in an attack on the Chabad synagogue in the small town of Poway , California .

Sequence of events

At the time of the attack, there were around 100 believers in the synagogue to celebrate the last day of Passover . According to the police, the assassin entered the synagogue of the Chabad community around 11:23 a.m. local time with an AR-15 assault rifle and immediately started shooting at the believers present. He killed Lori Gilbert-Kaye, a 60-year-old woman who stood in his way, and injured three other people, including an 8-year-old girl and Yisroel Goldstein, the community's rabbi , who killed two in the attack Lost finger. Two of the injured belonged to a family that had only moved to the United States in 2014 from the Israeli city ​​of Sderot , which is often the target of rocket attacks by the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip . Due to technical problems with his weapon, the assassin only fired eight to ten shots, left the synagogue relatively quickly and escaped in a car. A decommissioned US Border Guard officer tried to shoot the fleeing assassin, but failed. The assassin, who called 911 himself to report the attack, was later arrested. The police found five loaded magazines with 50 rounds, a helmet and his weapon in his vehicle .

Suspect

The police arrested 19-year-old John Earnest from San Diego as a suspect. Earnest had not been noticed by the police before the act. Shortly before the act, an " open letter " was published under his name on the online platform 8chan . Earnest also tried to broadcast his deed live on Facebook , but failed.

In his “open letter” Earnest refers to a number of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and myths with which he justifies his act. Among other things, he claims that the Jews are planning a genocide against the “white race”. He cites the two right-wing extremist terrorists Brenton Tarrant and Robert Bowers as inspirations for his act . Bowers also carried out an attack on a synagogue in Pittsburgh exactly six months before Earnest and Terrant killed 50 people in an attack on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in March 2019 . Like Earnest, Terrant was also active in a right-wing extremist forum on 8chan, broadcast his attack live on Facebook and, like Earnest, left a manifesto in which he explained his motives. Earnest also stated that he was responsible for the March 24, 2019 arson attack on a mosque in Escondido , in which "For Brenton Terrant" was sprayed on the parking lot of the mosque.

In late April 2019, Earnest was charged in the San Diego County Superior Court with murder in one and attempted murder in three counts, as well as the arson attack on the mosque in Escondido. Earnest pleads "not guilty" on all counts. The date for the trial was set for June 2, 2020.

Reactions

Gavin Newsom , Governor of California, Donald Trump , US President, Mike Pence , US Vice President, Bernie Sanders , Kamala Harris , Joe Biden and Eric Swalwell , members of the United States Democratic Party , all condemned the attack and expressed their condolences to the relatives as did Benjamin Netanyahu , Prime Minister of Israel and Reuven Rivlin , Israel's President.

On April 29, the suspect's parents condemned the act, stating, "To our great shame, he has now become part of the history of the calamities that have been inflicted on the Jewish people for centuries." Her lawyer pointed out that the family is the defense von Earnest would not pay, instead he could be represented by a public defender.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Jason Hanna and Darran Simon CNN: The suspect in Poway synagogue shooting used an assault rifle and had extra magazines, prosecutors said. Retrieved August 3, 2019 .
  2. ↑ tagesschau.de: A dead person after being shot in a synagogue in California. Retrieved April 28, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Israeli attack victims in California: “We fled the fire and ended up in the fire” www.spiegel.de, April 28, 2019
  4. ↑ San Diego Sheriff: Update # 7 @SDSheriff Bill Gore confirms the name of the shooting suspect as 19-year-old John Earnest (DOB 6/8/99). We didn't find any prior law enforcement contact with Earnest. We're looking into digital evidence and checking the authenticity of an online manifesto. In: @SDSheriff. April 27, 2019, accessed April 28, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Anti-Semitic open letter posted under name of synagogue shooting suspect. Accessed April 28, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Tom Cleary: John Earnest: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know. In: Heavy.com. April 27, 2019, accessed April 28, 2019 .
  7. ↑ California synagogue shooter 'tried to burn down a mosque last month'. April 28, 2019. Retrieved April 28, 2019 .
  8. ↑ California synagogue shooting suspect, John Earnest, pleads not guilty to murder, arson charges - National | Globalnews.ca. April 30, 2019, accessed August 3, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Trial date set for accused synagogue shooter. December 5, 2019, accessed January 12, 2020 .
  10. ^ Synagogue shooting kills 1, wounds 3 during Jewish holiday . In: Associated Press , April 27, 2019. 
  11. ^ The Latest: Pittsburgh offers condolences after shooting . In: Fox News , April 27, 2019. 
  12. ↑ Vice President Mike Pence on Twitter . April 27, 2019.
  13. ↑ Rachael Frazin: 2020 Dems condemn bigotry, gun violence after synagogue shooting . April 27, 2019. 
  14. ↑ Netanyahu condemns 'abhorrent' San Diego synagogue attack . In: Israel Hayom , April 28, 2019. 
  15. ↑ Frank Miles: Parents disavow California synagogue suspect, say son is part of 'history of evil' . In: Fox News . April 29, 2019. Retrieved April 30, 2019.