A criminal defendant pleaded guilty on Thursday to threatening a Los Angeles synagogue and attempting to obstruct congregants’ free exercise of religious beliefs.
Fifty-year-old William Alexander of Anchorage, Alaska, was indicted in September on one count of making threatening interstate communications and one count of obstruction of the free exercise of religion and pleaded guilty to the federal charges in the U.S. District Court of Alaska this week, the Justice Department announced.
A grand jury indictment filed on Sept. 18 and reviewed by the Washington Examiner accused Alexander of calling the California synagogue on Nov. 1, 2019, and leaving a voicemail threatening to kill the congregants. Alexander repeatedly used racial slurs to refer to Jews during the call, according to the Justice Department.
The indictment charged that in making the call, Alexander used the threat of force to obstruct and attempt to obstruct the congregants’ free exercise of religious beliefs.
“Those individuals who are driven by hate to violate that right will be brought to justice,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a news release. “The defendant’s conviction in this case sends a strong message that hate crimes will not be tolerated in our free society.”
While a Justice Department news release published on Sept. 21 refers to Alexander as a man, Thursday’s announcement uses gender-neutral language such as “them” and “their” pronouns to refer to Alexander.
The Washington Examiner asked the Justice Department about this change but did not immediately receive a response.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Alexander is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug 23.
