An anti-Semitic white supremacist was sentenced to nearly two decades in prison after he plotted to blow up Colorado’s second-oldest synagogue.
Richard Holzer, 28, was sentenced in Colorado federal court Friday after pleading guilty to attempting to use explosives and fire to prevent the free exercise of religion and attempting to use explosives or fire to damage or destroy a building used in interstate commerce.
Holzer was arrested in November 2019 after he communicated with undercover federal agents online about the plot. Holzer’s plan to attack the Temple Emanuel in Pueblo escalated from poisoning to using Molotov cocktails, pipe bombs, and dynamite to destroy the synagogue.
“Let’s get that place off the map,” he told undercover agents a month before his arrest. “This is the big center here for them here in town. Thing is, why not hit the heart, right?”
HOMELAND SECURITY ISSUES DOMESTIC TERRORISM ALERT DUE TO ‘VIOLENT EXTREMISTS’
“I want something that tells them they are not welcome in this town — better get the f— out, otherwise, people will die,” he told agents.
Holzer was arrested after weeks of communication with the agents when he was provided inert explosives fabricated by the FBI. The phony devices included two pipe bombs and 14 sticks of dynamite, which Holzer told the agents looked “absolutely gorgeous.” He also had a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf in his bag at the time of his arrest.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“The Department has combatted hate-based violent extremism and domestic terrorism since our inception,” said acting Deputy Attorney General John Carlin after the sentencing. “Today, there is no higher priority. This sentencing serves as a reminder that these crimes will not be tolerated, and we will hold the individuals who engage in them fully accountable.”
