California synagogue gunman pleads guilty to over 100 federal hate crimes

The California man who opened fire on a Poway synagogue in a 2019 attack that killed one and injured others pleaded guilty on Friday to more than 100 federal hate crime charges.

John T. Earnest, 22, pleaded guilty earlier this year to the charges and accepted a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Federal prosecutors and Earnest will jointly recommend a life sentence plus 30 years, the Southern District of California attorney’s office said. Earnest pleaded guilty to an indictment of 113 counts.

Earnest entered the Chabad of Poway synagogue north of San Diego with a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 rifle and opened fire, killing Lori Gilbert-Kaye, 60, and injuring the rabbi, an 8-year-old girl and her uncle .

He ran away and called 911, saying he was the gunman and that the Jewish people were “destroying the white race,” officials said. He also wrote a hate manifesto that was posted online prior to the attack.

In a plea deal, Earnest admitted to planning the April 27, 2019 attack for weeks, prosecutors said. He carried what has been described as a chest platform with five additional 10-round ammo magazines.

Earnest fired the 10-round magazine into the rifle until it was empty, and he tried to reload it but to no avail as the worshipers rushed to confront him and then he fled, said the FBI.

He also admitted to setting fire to a mosque in Escondido, California, in March 2019. No one was injured.

Sentencing in the state case is scheduled for September 30. Online court records do not appear to indicate when sentencing is expected in the federal case.

The state plea deal avoided the possibility of the death penalty. The sentence agreed in this case is life imprisonment without the possibility of parole plus 121 years, said the public prosecutor.

Federal crimes carried the possibility of a death sentence, but on August 30, prosecutors filed a notice with the court that they would not seek it.

“This nation stands in solidarity with the family of Lori Gilbert Kaye and the survivors of these unspeakable acts of terror,” said Randy S. Grossman, acting US attorney for the Southern District of California.

“We categorically reject the hatred, racism and prejudice of the accused, and we hope that the conclusion of this case will bring some comfort to all those affected by his heinous crimes,” he said.