Synagogue shooter who killed 60-year-old woman gets second life sentence
The man who shot and killed a 60-year-old woman in a California synagogue has been given a second life sentence. This sentence is in addition to the life sentence without the possibility of parole that John T. Earnest received earlier this year.
In July, Mr Earnest, who murdered Lori Gilbert-Kaye in the Chabad of Poway Synagogue shooting in April 2019, pleaded guilty to the charges of murder and attempted murder in a plea agreement that saw him avoid the death penalty.
Mr Earnest, who was nineteen at the time of the shooting, was said to have entered the synagogue with an AR-15 style rifle and opened fire on the 54 congregants inside, killing Ms Gilbert-Kaye and injuring three others, including an eight-year-old girl and the congregation’s founder, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who lost a finger.
During the shooting, Mr Earnest’s rifle jammed, at which point several members of the congregation ran towards him, chasing him out of the synagogue. He was understood to have fled before calling the police himself to confess that he had committed a shooting at a synagogue because he believed that Jews were trying to “destroy all white people,” and was subsequently apprehended approximately two miles from the synagogue.
Mr Earnest also confessed to committing arson at the Dar-ul-Arqam Mosque in March 2019 “for the purpose of terrorising Muslim worshippers,” it was revealed in a news release from the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. Addressing Mr Earnest’s motivation behind the Poway Synagogue shooting, the news release said that Mr Earnest “admitted that he committed those crimes because of his bias and hatred of Jews.”
In a statement, US Attorney-General Merrick Garland, who is Jewish, said: “All people deserve to live and worship peacefully. This defendant’s conduct was an attempt to damage what makes our nation so great—our diversity. The Department of Justice stands with our Jewish and Muslim community members, we reject hate in all forms, and we are committed to prosecuting bias-motivated violence to the fullest extent.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.
