FILE - In this April 30, 2019 file photo John T. Earnest appears for his arraignment hearing in San Diego. Federal officials announced Thursday, May 9, 2019, that they have filed 109 hate crime charges against Earnest accused of opening fire in a Southern California synagogue on April 27, the last day of Passover, a major Jewish holiday. (Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP, Pool, File)

Gunman told 911 'I just shot up a synagogue' after attack

By The Associated Press May 9, 2019 at 10:22pm

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Prosecutors say a gunman who killed a woman and wounded three at a Southern California synagogue called 911 as he sped away in his car and said “I just shot up a synagogue” because “the Jewish people are destroying the white race.”

The chilling revelations were detailed in a federal affidavit as federal officials filed 109 federal hate crime and other charges against 19-year-old John T. Earnest on Thursday in the attack at the Chabat of Poway synagogue last month in a San Diego suburb.

Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty.

Earnest already pleaded not guilty to state murder and attempted murder charges. In a separate case, he also pleaded not guilty to a charge tied to starting a fire at a nearby mosque.

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