The suspect in the deadly shooting at a San Diego County synagogue had no love for President Trump, apparently blasting him as a “Zionist, Jew-loving” traitor in a hate-filled manifesto posted before Saturday’s attack.
A person identifying himself as John Earnest posted a 4,000-word screed about an hour before the shooting saying he was motivated by his hatred of Jews and belief in white supremacy, as well as the Oct. 27 attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, which left 11 dead.
As for Mr. Trump: “You mean that Zionist, Jew-loving, anti-White, traitorous c*cksucker? Don’t make me laugh,” he said in the manifesto, according to Heavy.com and other news outlets.
One woman was killed and three worshipers were injured when a gunman opened fire at the Chabad of Poway in Poway, California. He was confronted by an off-duty Border Patrol agent, who shot at but did not hit the suspect, according to the San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore.
Police arrested 19-year-old John T. Earnest, a nursing student at Cal State University San Marcos, shortly after the attack. The manifesto is still being authenticated.
“We didn’t find any prior law enforcement contact with Earnest,” Sheriff Gore tweeted. “We’re looking into digital evidence and checking the authenticity of an online manifesto.”
The sheriff said authorities investigating whether the suspect previously vandalized and set fire to a mosque in Escondido, causing damage but no injuries.
Mr. Trump thanked the border agent, who was working security at the synagogue, saying that he “may have been off duty but his talents for Law Enforcement weren’t!”
The Pittsburgh shooting suspect had also criticized Mr. Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, as a “globalist, not a nationalist.”
Even so, leftist groups blamed Mr. Trump for the latest synagogue attack, which took place on the last day of Passover.
Women’s March spokeswoman Sophie Ellman-Golan tweeted, “While Jews were shot for being Jewish by an armed white man this weekend, @realDonaldTrump — who has emboldened white nationalists and incited white nationalist violence — spoke at the @NRA convention to advocate for more guns for more white men. He is to blame.”
After Mr. Trump tweeted his condolences to the shooting victims, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action responded, “Spare us your thoughts and prayers. You and all who embrace & enable white nationalism are responsible for this.”
IfNotNow, a Jewish group that opposes the “Israeli occupation,” accused Mr. Trump of “using your support for Israel and Netanyahu’s racist government as a cover for your hate.”
Mr. Trump enjoys enormous popularity in Israel after a number of pro-Jerusalem policy moves, including his decisions to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and relocate the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Last month, he recognized Israel’s 1981 annexation of the Golan Heights at a joint press conference with Mr. Netanyahu.
A Pew Research Center poll released in October said his positive rating among Israeli surveyed jumped from 56 percent in 2017 to 69 percent in 2018.
