The shooter, 22, pleaded guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder, as well as arson for setting fire to a mosque in Escondido, California, a month before the synagogue attack, in a plea deal in order to avoid a potential death sentence. The shooter also admitted that both acts were hate crimes.
The shooter will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, as well as 121 years-to-life and another 16 years, the maximum possible punishment he could face, besides for the death penalty, according to the Tribune. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 30 in San Diego Superior Court.
More than 50 people were inside the Chabad synagogue in Poway, California, when the shooter opened fire. Lori Gilbert-Kaye, 60, was killed in the antisemitic attack, while Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein; eight-year-old Noya Dahan and Dahan's uncle, Almog Peretz, were injured.
The shooter also committed arson at the Dar-ul-Arqam mosque in Escondido.
The shooter is still facing more than 100 federal charges and federal prosecutors could still seek execution, with the shooter due back in federal court in September 8, according to the Tribune. The shooter's lawyers submitted a conditional plea agreement to the office of US Attorney-General Merrick Garland in early June, but it is unknown if the agreement was accepted or the nature of its contents.
The prosecutors said that the decision to accept the plea deal "was made in the interest of justice and with the knowledge that a parallel prosecution by the US Attorney’s Office and possible plea in that case would prevent the state’s case from moving forward," according to the Tribune.
The shooter, a far-right activist, posted a manifesto shortly before the attack in 2019 and admitted on Tuesday that he had written that the attack was motivated by hatred for Jews.
The manifesto contained common far-right catchphrases, including descriptions of an "international Jewry" that is responsible for countless age-old blood libels, including the murder of Christ and alleged control over the media and the economy. This is similar to a trope in the antisemitic book The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Earnest wrote that: "Every Jew young and old has contributed to these. For these crimes they deserve nothing but hell. I will send them there."
He also stated that he hoped to inspire others to commit similar crimes and that he expected to be freed from prison and would "continue the fight."
The manifesto is full of religious imagery. He repeated throughout that he was carrying out the attack to be a good Christian, saying "My God understands why I did what I did." He proceeded to quote several verses from the New Testament as "proof."