Anti-Semitic Letter Published in Internet Hours Before Poway Synagogue Shooting - Reports

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th April, 2019) An open anti-Semitic letter to the far-right message board�was published online on Saturday, hours before the shooting at a synagogue in the city of Poway, which is located near San Diego, California, local media reported.

On Saturday, the sheriff of San Diego, Bill Gore, said that a man had opened fire in the synagogue in California, injuring several people. Later Poway Mayor Steve Vaus said that the incident had left one person dead and was likely to be a hate crime.

According to the NBC broadcaster, the anti-Semitic letter was posted online several hours before the attack by a user, who called himself JohnTEarnest. This name reportedly coincides with the name of the suspected shooter arrested after the incident.

The author of the letter said that he was inspired by Robert Bowers, who staged shooting in a synagogue in Pittsburgh in November having killed 11 people, and Brenton Tarrant, who shot dead 50 people in mosques in New Zealand's Christchurch on March 15.

He pointed out that the preparations for the attack on the synagogue in Poway had been started soon after the Christchurch shooting.

The letter is reportedly full of anti-Semitic statements. The author also criticized the policy of US President Donald Trump over his support for Israel.

The 2018 shooting in Pittsburgh took place on October 27 and became the deadliest ever attack on the Jewish community in the United States.

The March 15 shooting became the deadliest terror attack in New Zealand. The suspected shooter also published a manifesto filled with anti-Muslim statements prior to committing the attack.