FBI says it thwarted alleged white supremacist's plan to blow up a Colorado synagogue

Police and FBI officials announce arrest of man who allegedly plotted to bomb a synagogue.

(Image credit: AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

published 5 November 2019

A man who said he was preparing for a "racial holy war" was arrested Friday in Colorado, with federal authorities accusing him of plotting to blow up Temple Emanuel, a synagogue in Pueblo that dates back to 1900.

Richard Holzer, 27, confessed to the plan, federal court documents released Monday state. In September, Holzer posted on Facebook that he was in favor of racially motivated violence. Undercover federal authorities reached out to him, and he was arrested after receiving pipe bombs and dynamite.

Holzer has been charged with attempted use of explosives and trying to obstruct the free exercise of religious beliefs. Court documents state that during his confession, Holzer used bigoted terms to describe Jews and Temple Emanuel. He also said that last year, he paid a man to poison the synagogue's water, and was gearing up for a "racial holy war." This rhetoric is linked to the former leader of a white supremacist religious organization, Matt Hale, who is now in prison, the court documents said.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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