Neo-Nazi pleads guilty to plotting to blow up synagogue in Colorado
A neo-Nazi has pleaded guilty to plotting to blow up a local synagogue in Pueblo, Colorado.
Self-confessed white supremacist Richard Holzer, 28, had stated throughout the trial that he hated Jewish people, according to prosecutors.
Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division for the District of Colorado said that the defendant had tried to orchestrate a plan to bomb the Temple Emanuel Synagogue in an attempt to remove the Jewish presence from his local community.
Officials reported that Mr Holzer advocated for white supremacy and acts of extreme violence across his social media accounts, particularly against Jewish people. It was also recorded that he had visited the site of the synagogue in Pueblo to watch and taunt the congregants on several occasions.
According to the FBI, Mr Holzer told an undercover agents that he wished to threaten Jews and show them that they were not welcome in the city. Authorities described his motivation and ideology as unambiguously antisemitic. On one occasion the defendant sent images of himself with automatic weapons to prepare for what he described as “RAHOWA”, a shorthand for a racial holy war.
On 1st November 2019, Mr Holzer met with undercover agents to acquire explosive devices, including two pipe bombs and fourteen sticks of dynamite that had been fabricated by the FBI. Upon providing several inert devices, agents reported that Mr Holzer took out a copy of Mein Kampf, and claimed that “this was a move for our race” and he intended to “get that place off the map”.
The defendant confessed to planning to detonate the explosives several hours later at the synagogue in the early hours of the morning on 2nd November 2019.
In the plea agreement reached on 15th October, Mr Holzer pleaded guilty to a count of intentionally attempting to obstruct persons in the enjoyment of their free exercise of religious beliefs through force and the attempted use of explosives and fire; and an attempt to damage and destroy a building used in interstate commerce, by means of fire and explosives. He was also charged with use of fire and explosives to commit a felony, however he did not plead guilty to this count and may therefore continue to be prosecuted.
Sentencing is set for 20th January 2021 in a District Court and the defendant faces a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison for the hate crime charge and twenty years for the explosives charge, with a fine of up to $250,000 and a term of supervised release.
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