California Police Investigate Hate-filled Zig Forums Manifesto That Could Link Synagogue Shooting To Mosque Attack
San Diego authorities are looking into a manifesto apparently published by John Earnest, the 19-year-old suspected gunman in the shooting at the Chabad of Poway synagogue Saturday that may connect him to an arson attack on a California mosque last month.
A purported copy of the manifesto posted to underground message board Zig Forums just before the attack proclaims the writer to be a Christian who is " a man of European ancestry,..blessed by God for such a magnificent bloodline" and lionizes the "sacrifice" of Brenton Tarrant, 28, who has been charged with carrying out the Christchurch massacre that left 50 people dead.
The nine-page manifesto signed with the suspected shooter's name is structured similarly to the longer manifesto written by Tarrant. That manifesto was also posted to Zig Forums, a largely unmoderated site that attracts controversial groups, including white supremacists.
Earnest was identified Saturday as the suspect in the shooting after he called police and turned himself in. The manifesto claims Jews are "responsible for the meticulously planned genocide of the human race" and lays out his case that he is "a soldier that has the honor and privilege of defending his race in its greatest hours of need."
It denounces President Trump as a "Zionist, Jew-loving, anti-White, traitorous c—sucker" and conservatives as "useless, spineless coward[s]" who "conserve nothing." Among his inspirations, the writer citews Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, Martin Luther, Adolf Hitler, Robert Bowers [accused of the Pittsburgh synagogue shootings], Tarrant and the composer Ludwig van Beethoven."
San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said that authorities were looking into a potential connection between the suspect and an arson at a mosque in Escondido, Calif. The manifesto states that the writer "scorched a mosque in Escondido with gasoline a week after Brenton Tarrant's sacrifice" and sprayed Tarrant's name there. No one was injured and no serious damage was done in the March 24 arson, but authorities found a letter there that referenced the New Zealand attacks.
