POWAY (JTA) — The accused gunman in the deadly shooting at a San Diego-area synagogue pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
In addition to entering pleas on Thursday in a San Diego court for firing an assault rifle inside the Chabad of Poway synagogue, John Earnest, 20, also pleaded not guilty to arson charges for a fire a month earlier at a nearby mosque, the ABC affiliate in San Diego, 10 News reported.
One woman, Lori Gilbert-Kaye, 60, was killed and three people were wounded, including an 8-year-old girl and the synagogue’s rabbi, who lost a finger, in the April 27 shooting at the Chabad of Poway synagogue.
The murder charge has been classified as a hate crime, making Earnest eligible for the death penalty, though prosecutors from the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office have not said whether they will seek that punishment.
Earnest is being held without bail. He is due back in court on December 5, when a trial date will be set.
Earnest also faces more than 100 hate crime-related counts filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and could also face the death penalty in the federal case, the Times of San Diego reported.
Earnest told a 911 operator in the moments after the attack that he did it to save white people from Jews.
About an hour before the synagogue attack, someone identifying himself as John Earnest posted a link to an open letter on 8chan, an anonymous message board that often features hate speech and conspiracy theories, that condemned and threatened Jews.
Plead not guilty ? This animal gets to dance around and make a Mockery of our system ? The man killed in public . His guilt is beyond a doubt . We need to stop being so silly . Mass shooters should not be offered fair trials like the rest .
Send him off to the gallows and hang this low life
For those worried silly about slippery slope . It’s nonsense . The line is crystal clear . If you kill in a public setting where your guilt is beyond any doubt that’s not a slope . The line is flat and clear . Stop being such an intellectual fool and dumb bell
There are no more gallows in the USA; the method of execution is lethal injection. This piece of garbage should be tried first by the Federal government, which has a death penalty for hate crimes. The state of California, under its present Governor, has placed a moratorium on the death penalty. Regarding the mass murderer at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, that mass murderer was first tried by the Feds, convicted, and sentenced to death. The state of South Carolina also brought charges, after the federal trial, and the defendant pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to life by South Carolina. Therefore, in this case, I don’t know why the U.S. Attorney is not trying this case first, as was the case in South Carolina. Regarding the mass murder of Jews at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh last year, the Federal Government is trying the Nazi perpetrator first, and is seeking the death penalty. It is unclear if the state of Pennsylvania will also try that Nazi.
hang him high