Oregon synagogue vandalized in hate crime
Two brothers and a third man have been charged with various crimes after rocks engraved with Nazi symbols were thrown through windows at a synagogue during a religious service.
Jacob Albert Laskey, 25, his brother, Gabriel Doyle Laskey, 20, and Gerald Anthony Poundstone, 27, all were charged with conspiracy to violate civil rights in federal grand jury indictments unsealed Tuesday.
Jacob Laskey also was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice relating to witness intimidation, three counts of solicitation relating to attempts to kill potential witnesses, solicitation to communicate a bomb threat intended to obstruct a federal grand jury investigation, and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon.
Gerald Poundstone also was charged with obstruction of justice relating to witness intimidation.
According to the indictment, a group of five males, including the defendants, drove to the Temple Beth Israel in Eugene on Oct. 25, 2002, where a Jewish religious service was in progress. The five men threw the rocks at the temple, breaking the windows and intimidating members of the congregation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Fitzgerald said Tuesday the case remains under investigation.
Trial was set for Oct. 26 in U.S. District Court in Eugene.
A federal judge sentenced a Spokane, Wash., man to 39 years in prison Tuesday for firebombing a Jewish synagogue. The defendant raised his hand in a stiff-armed Nazi salute as the judge turned her back and left the courtroom.
Sean M. Gillespie, 21, was found guilty in April of three bombing-related charges for hurling a Molotov cocktail at synagogue B’Nai Israel here on April 1, 2004. His act, which caused only minor damage to a brick wall and a glass door, was captured on a security videotape.
Gillespie, who once belonged to the white supremacist group Aryan Nations, was convicted of carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, damaging a building used in interstate commerce and having an unregistered destructive device.
His sentence was enhanced because of a letter he attempted to send to the synagogue after his conviction that was filled with racist comments. The letter, which was read in court, expressed his hatred toward the Jewish people and his desire to incite a racial holy war.
Temple B’Nai Israel’s Rabbi Barry Cohen said the attack sparked fear and anger among members of his congregation.
“There was little physical damage to the building, but there was clear psychological damage,” Cohen said. “In this country, we can’t be afraid in our places of worship. That’s just not acceptable.”
Gillespie’s letter, which was intercepted at the Grady County Jail and turned over to the FBI, never reached the synagogue, but Cohen said he was disturbed by its contents.
“That was very disconcerting to hear such textbook anti-Semitic hatred,” Cohen said. “He seems like a very dangerous man right now.”
Gillespie asked U.S. District Judge Robin Cauthron for leniency.
“I’m not saying what I did was right, but I don’t deserve 35 years,” he said.
He told the judge he had a troubled childhood and had lived on the streets since age 11 before being befriended by a group that endorsed white supremacy.
“These people took me off the streets,” Gillespie said in a voice trembling with emotion. “They are the only people who have ever loved me.”
Federal sentencing guidelines called for a minimum sentence of 30 years in prison, but Cauthron said a longer prison term was warranted, citing the letter and the nature of Gillespie’s crime.
“What you’ve done is not an act of vandalism, it’s an act of violence,” Cauthron said.
Gillespie was arrested on April 16, 2004, in Russellville, Ark., by FBI agents and Arkansas law enforcement officers.
According to an FBI affidavit, an informant told agents that Gillespie had been living in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, and had recently gone to the Russellville area after firebombing a synagogue in Oklahoma City.
