SAN DIEGO _ Federal prosecutors in San Diego said Thursday that they have charged the 19-year-old man accused of attacking a Poway synagogue last month, killing one person and wounding three others, with 109 hate crime violations that could lead to the death penalty.
John T. Earnest is charged in a criminal complaint with 54 counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs using a dangerous weapon, resulting in death and bodily injury; 54 counts of hate crime acts related to the shooting at the synagogue; and one count of damage to religious property by use of fire, stemming from a blaze sparked at an Escondido mosque in March.
U.S. Attorney Robert S. Brewer Jr. announced the charges against Earnest at a downtown news conference where he was flanked by state and federal law enforcement officials. The charges are not a complete surprise _ the FBI had said on the day of the shooting it was conducting an investigation _ but they do set up a rare dual prosecution between state and federal prosecutors.
Earnest, who is from Rancho Penasquitos in north San Diego County, has already pleaded not guilty to murder, attempted murder and arson charges in San Diego Superior Court. Those charges put him in line to potentially face the death penalty under state law.
Earnest is accused of barging into the Chabad of Poway on April 27 during Passover services. Authorities say he fired 10 rounds from an AR-15-style rifle, killing one and injuring three before his weapon jammed and he fled. He was arrested a short time later after he called 911 and identified himself as the shooter.
According to a federal affidavit, Earnest told authorities, "I just shot up a synagogue. I'm trying to defend my nation from the Jewish people ... I think I killed some people."
The document notes that Earnest bought the rifle from a licensed federal firearms dealer in San Diego. He picked it up April 26, the day before the shooting at the synagogue.
Earnest is the purported author of a manifesto, posted online before the shooting, that included anti-Semitic passages.
