Utah Man Hit With Hate Crime for Shooting Up Salt Lake City Synagogue
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A 21-year-old Utah man was indicted on federal hate crimes charges for firing shots at a Salt Lake City synagogue last year.
Macon Michael Openshaw of Salt Lake City was charged Wednesday in U.S. District Court there for allegedly firing several rounds from a handgun, breaking windows and damaging a window frame at the Kol Ami synagogue sometime between January and April 2012, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
A search of Openshaw’s home revealed the Walther .22 caliber handgun, according to the newspaper, as well as a sawed-off SKS automatic rifle.
In 2011, Openshaw pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of a deadly weapon. The following year he pleaded guilty to assaulting his 65-year-old grandmother.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
