The 19-year-old alleged gunman who attacked a Poway, California, synagogue lives with his parents and said in a manifesto that he thinks that Jews are planning to take over the world. John T. Earnest also claimed that he set fire to a mosque in Escondido, California, in the weeks after the shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The claim is under investigation. A nursing student, Earnest is on the dean’s list at California State University, San Marcos. Earnest was yelling anti-Semitic slurs when he entered the synagogue, according to, reportedly including that Jews were “ruining the world.” The New York Times He said in a manifesto posted on 8Chan, a conspiracy theory message board, that he was inspired by the Tree of Life synagogue gunman in Pittsburgh along with the New Zealand mosque shooter. He wrote in his manifesto, according to Heavy.com: “I do not care about the debt-based currency that Jews like to pretend is money. I do not care for the bread and circus that Jewry has used to attempt to pacify my people. I willingly sacrifice my future — the future of having a fulfilling job, a loving wife, and amazing kids. I sacrifice this for the sake of my people. OUR people. I would die a thousand times over to prevent the doomed fate that the Jews have planned for my race.” Earnest also used several anti-Semitic tropes and themes in his manifesto, including that Jews control the media and financial institutions. “Every Jew is responsible for the meticulously planned genocide of the European race. They act as a unit, and every Jew plays his part to enslave the other races around him — whether consciously or subconsciously. Their crimes are endless,” he also wrote. Earnest wrote that he is a Christian and blames all Jews for the murder of Jesus. He called on others to “take a stand” and follow in his footsteps. His father is a high school science teacher, and Earnest has two sisters and a brother. Police raided his parents’ home shortly after the shooting. Earnest called in the shooting to police after fleeing the scene, as an off-duty U.S. Border Patrol guard who had arrived to say the Yizkor memorial prayer shot at him. He was taken into police custody several blocks from the synagogue, reportedly emerging from his car with his hands in the air. An assault rifle was found in the front seat of the vehicle, as was an action camera, indicating that he had planned to film the synagogue shooting.
