Hate has consequences. This weekend in southern California, as the San Diego Jewish community celebrated the last day of their holiday of Passover, a 19-year-old gunman stormed a local synagogue and opened fire, wounding at least four people, one of whom has died. The shooter has been taken into custody. According to a local hospital, the three others they received from the Poway, California Chabad Center did not sustain life-threatening injuries. Apparently, one of those injured was the congregation’s rabbi, who reportedly sought to “calm” the shooter, who entered the premises “screaming and cursing.”
Poway Mayor Steve Vaus said that “because of statements that were made when the shooter entered,” he was considering the attack a hate crime. Presumably, that would entail authorities prosecuting the attacker to the full extent of the California laws on the books against hate crimes on the basis of religion. The California Department of Justice as led by prominent progressive Attorney General Xavier Becerra maintains a “rapid response team” for assisting lower-level authorities in dealing with hate crimes, although the exact future of the suspect was not immediately clear.
The San Diego Police Department did share that they were assisting with the local response to the incident, which includes “extra patrol at places of worship” although they noted there were no known further threats.
Meanwhile, Vaus added an acknowledgment of the steps undertaken by congregation members like the rabbi, sharing:
‘I also understand from folks on the scene that this shooter was engaged by people in the congregation and those brave people certainly prevented this from being a much worse tragedy.’
Iranian refugee and congregation member Minoo Anvari, whose husband was in the synagogue at the time of the shooting, told CNN:
‘This is something bad (that) is happening all over. And we have to believe that this bad thing is real and we don’t have to ignore it. We have to open our eyes.’
She added of the rabbi:
‘He prayed for peace. I respect him — even in spite of being injured he refused to go to hospital and he spoke. And he finished his speech and he then left the synagogue.’
The incident unfolded this weekend six months after an attacker stormed the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, killing 11 people and wounding others in what’s been estimated to be the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in American history. He was acting on rage at the Jewish community seeking to assist the asylum seekers that President Donald Trump continues to drum up hate for and fear of. Trump rushed to visit that community, even over the protest of locals.
In the hours hours following the incident this weekend, he shared a conventional message on Twitter:
‘Thoughts and prayers to all of those affected by the shooting at the Synagogue in Poway, California. God bless you all. Suspect apprehended. Law enforcement did outstanding job. Thank you!’
There has been an overall increase in hate crimes across the United States while it’s languished under Trump’s leadership. In 2016, the FBI reported 6,121 hate crime incidents across the United States, while in 2017, the agency reported 7,175 incidents. There was a spike in the number of local law enforcement agencies participating in the FBI’s reporting program between those two years, but it was not enough to account for the increase.
