Poway synagogue suspect due in federal court on hate crime charges

SAN DIEGO - A young man accused of opening fire inside a Poway synagogue, killing a woman and injuring three other people, is due to appear in San Diego federal court to enter pleas on more than 100 federal hate crime counts alleging he acted out of hatred toward the Jewish and Muslim communities.

John T. Earnest, 19, is accused not only of the synagogue shooting but also of an earlier arson fire at an Escondido mosque. He's being charged by both federal and state prosecutors and faces a possible death sentence in both cases.

Earnest, who's from Rancho Penasquitos, is accused of carrying out the shooting at Chabad of Poway on April 27 -- the last day of Passover -- killing Lori Gilbert Kaye, 60, who was shot twice in the synagogue's foyer and later died at a hospital.

The congregation's rabbi, Yisroel Goldstein, 57, lost an index finger in the shooting. Two other people -- Almog Peretz, 34, and his 8-year-old niece, Noya Dahan -- were also injured.

Earnest is also accused of setting a March 24 fire at an Escondido mosque -- a crime to which Earnest allegedly confessed in an online manifesto he posted prior to the synagogue shooting.

He was charged last Thursday with 109 federal hate crimes:

-- 54 counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs using a dangerous weapon, resulting in death, bodily injury and attempts to kill.

-- 54 counts of hate crimes stemming from the synagogue shooting in violation of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

-- One count of damage to religious property by use of fire.

Each of the 54 hate crime and obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs counts apply to a person who was inside the synagogue during the shooting, Brewer said. Among those people, 12 of the congregants present were children, he said.

Earnest is also charged in state court with murder, attempted murder and arson. His next court hearing in the state's case is a readiness conference currently set for May 30.

Kaye, a longtime member of Chabad of Poway, was at the temple with her physician husband and daughter the day of the shooting to honor her mother, who recently died. The rabbi, Goldstein, lost his right index finger in the shooting. Peretz was shot in a leg while shepherding children to safety. His niece was struck by shrapnel in her face and leg.

An off-duty Border Patrol agent working as a security guard was inside the temple when the shooting began, and he opened fire as the suspect fled, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said. The agent did not strike Earnest, but did hit the suspect's car, authorities said.

Police said Earnest called 911 at around 11:30 a.m. and said he had been involved in the shooting and was armed.

According to the federal complaint, Earnest told a dispatcher, "I just shot up a synagogue. I'm just trying to defend my nation from the Jewish people ... They're destroying our people ... I opened fire at a synagogue. I think I killed some people.'' He allegedly added that he shot up the synagogue "because the Jewish people are destroying the white race.''

A San Diego police officer who had been en route to the synagogue spotted the suspect's vehicle and pulled him over at 17051 W. Bernardo Drive, less than two miles west of the synagogue, Deputy District Attorney Leonard Trinh said.

Earnest got out of his vehicle with his hands up and was taken into custody without further incident, according to police.