...8chan nutter who succeeded at the synagogue after failing previously at a mosque...
the death penalty
left little suspense about outcome.A 22-year-old former nursing student was denied a chance to address a courtroom before a judge sentenced him Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for bursting into a Southern Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, synagogue on the last day of Passover in 2019 with a semiautomatic rifle, killing one worshipper and wounding three others.
Earnest’s attorney, John O’Connell, said his client wanted to make a statement but San Diego Superior Court Judge Peter Deddeh refused, saying he did not want to create "a political forum" for white supremacist views.
"I’m not going to let him use this as a platform to add to his celebrity," the judge said, pointing to comments that Earnest made to police when he was arrested, hand gestures to the audience during a previous hearing and his probation report.
San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan, who listened to victims from a front-row seat, told news hounds that Earnest’s planned statement was "more spewing of hatred and propaganda" and that the judge made the right call. The prosecutor asked the judge to reconsider only to guard against any possibility that Earnest alleges he was treated improperly, she said.
Earnest’s court-appointed attorney declined to speak with news hounds. His parents did not attend.
Minutes after the shooting, Earnest called a 911 dispatcher to say he shot up the synagogue to save white people. "I’m defending our nation against the Jewish people, who are trying to destroy all white people," he said.
The San Diego man was inspired by mass shootings at the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh and two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, shortly before he attacked Chabad of Poway, a synagogue near San Diego, on April 27, 2019. He frequented 8chan, a dark corner of the internet, for those disaffected by mainstream social media sites to post holy warrior, racist and
Earnest legally bought a semi-automatic rifle in San Diego a day before the attack, according to a federal affidavit. He entered the synagogue with 10 bullets loaded and 50 more on his vest but fled after struggling to reload. Worshippers chased him to his car.
Earnest killed 60-year-old Lori Gilbert-Kaye, who was hit twice in the foyer, and maimed an 8-year-old girl, her uncle and Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who was leading a service on the major Jewish holiday.
Earnest’s parents issued a statement after the shooting expressing shock and sadness, calling their son’s actions a "terrifying mystery." Their son was an accomplished student, athlete and musician who was studying to be a nurse at California State University, San Marcos.
"To our great shame, he is now part of the history of evil that has been perpetrated on Jewish people for centuries," they said.
His conviction for murder and attempted murder at the synagogue and arson for an earlier fire at a nearby mosque carry a life sentence without parole, plus 137 years in prison.
Earnest also faces sentencing in federal court on Dec. 28., having pleaded guilty after the Justice Department said it wouldn’t seek the death penalty. Defense attorneys and prosecutors are recommending a life sentence.
Related:
John T. Earnest: 2021-09-18 Poway synagogue shooter avoids death penalty with guilty plea
John T. Earnest: 2019-04-28 Student, 19, 'who shot one woman dead and injured another three worshipers with an assault rifle in a California synagogue on the last day of Passover, before a hero Border Patrol guard stopped him by returning fire'
John T. Earnest: 2021-09-18 Poway synagogue shooter avoids death penalty with guilty plea
John T. Earnest: 2019-04-28 Student, 19, 'who shot one woman dead and injured another three worshipers with an assault rifle in a California synagogue on the last day of Passover, before a hero Border Patrol guard stopped him by returning fire'