Synagogue Shooter Named, Also Under Investigation For Unsolved Mosque Arson
Neighborhood residents and members of the media stand before the Chabad of Poway Synagogue after a shooting on Saturday, April 27, 2019 in Poway, California. Image by SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images
By Aiden Pink April 27, 2019
The suspect in the shooting at a synagogue in Poway, California is a 19-year-old white man named John Earnest, San Diego County Sheriff William Gore confirmed Saturday.
Gore also confirmed that an “open letter” was being investigated. A manifesto published in his name was published on Saturday morning on 8chan, an online message board popular with the far-right, NBC reported. The writer of the manifesto took credit for the unsolved arson of a mosque last month in Escondido, nine miles from Poway. Earnest is now being investigated in relation to that incident, Gore said.
The Escondido arsonist reportedly left a note at the scene praising Brenton Tarrant, who killed 50 worshippers at New Zealand mosques last month. The Poway manifesto also praises Tarrant and shares many characteristics of tone and format as the New Zealand shooter’s own writing. The Poway document also praised Robert Bowers, the alleged gunman in last year’s Pittsburgh synagogue massacre. Eleven people were killed in that attack, which took place six months to the day before the Poway shooting.
One person was killed and three more injured at the shooting Saturday at Congregation Chabad in Poway.
The manifesto, which also claims Earnest was a nursing student, is filled with anti-Semitic invective and cites Christian bible verses to justify his actions.
Gore said that Earnest had no prior contact with law enforcement before the attack.
Aiden Pink is the deputy news editor for the Forward. You can reach him at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Language apps are putting Hebrew school in teens’ back pockets. But do they work?
-
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
-
Fast Forward Trump administration can deport Mahmoud Khalil for undermining U.S. foreign policy on antisemitism, judge rules
-
Fast Forward Is the Passover Seder Zionist?
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion My Jewish moms group ousted me because I work for J Street. Is this what communal life has come to?
- 2
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
- 3
Fast Forward How Coke’s Passover recipe sparked an antisemitic conspiracy theory
- 4
Politics Meet America’s potential first Jewish second family: Josh Shapiro, Lori, and their 4 kids
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion This Nazi-era story shows why Trump won’t fix a terrifying deportation mistake
-
Opinion I operate a small Judaica business. Trump’s tariffs are going to squelch Jewish innovation.
-
Fast Forward Language apps are putting Hebrew school in teens’ back pockets. But do they work?
-
Books How a Jewish boy from Canterbury became a Zulu chieftain
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.