California man gets life sentence for fatal synagogue attack

By ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A 22-year-old white supremacist has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for bursting into a Southern California synagogue with a semiautomatic rifle on the last day of Passover in 2019, killing one worshipper and wounding three others. An agreement with prosecutors spared John T. Earnest the death penalty in Thursday’s sentencing. But the hearing gave victims and families their first opportunity to address the killer. Earnest wanted to make a statement but the judge said he wouldn’t grant a “political forum” for him to espouse white supremacist views.