Utah Man Gets 5 Years for Shooting at Salt Lake City Synagogue
A Utah man was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday for shooting into an unoccupied synagogue in Salt Lake City in what federal authorities said was an attack motivated by religious bias.
Macon Openshaw, 22, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Utah in April to the civil rights violation of damaging the synagogue and to two counts of unlawful gun possession, U.S. attorneys said in a statement.
As part of a plea deal struck with prosecutors, Openshaw admitted to firing three rounds from a .22 caliber pistol at the Congregation Kol Ami synagogue in 2012 because of its religious affiliation, Acting Assistant U.S. Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels said.
“Religiously motivated violence cannot be tolerated by civil society,” she said in a statement. “The department stands ready to combat violence based on a person’s religion and will continue to prosecute these hate crimes vigorously.”
A federal judge also ordered Openshaw to pay $1,969 to the synagogue to repair the damage he caused.
Openshaw could not immediately be reached for comment.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
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 the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.