California man pleads guilty to threatening mass shooting of synagogues

A California man pleaded guilty on Monday to a federal charge of stalking and admitted to engaging in a 14-month campaign in which he threatened a victim and threatened to shoot synagogues and "exterminate" Jewish people and Asian Americans, according to the Department of Justice.

Officials said Andre Morrow Lackner, 35, of Northridge, pleaded guilty to one count of stalking.

According to court documents, from June 2021 to October 2022, Lackner sent a series of abusive text messages to the victim. 

In these messages, Lackner directed a series of anti-Semitic remarks to the victim, including, "Hitler was right about you people," "I want to see every single Jew exterminated from this earth," "Would you like to celebrate the next synagogue shooting?" and "I will make sure I kill a Jew before I leave this Earth."

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Lackner also texted the victim multiple racist statements against Asian Americans, including "We need to start more Asian hate."

The text messages Lackner sent the victim placed her in reasonable fear of death and serious bodily injury to herself or one of her immediate family members, according to court documents.

"My office will remain steadfast in standing up to hate and working to unite our community," said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. "We must hold accountable those like this defendant who make vile, anti-Semitic, and racist threats that put victims in fear for their lives. I applaud law enforcement for acting decisively to intervene and protect the victim."

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The Department of Justice did not indicate if they knew of any moves he made to carry out any of his threats.

Lackner has been in federal custody since December 2022.

"The defendant's abhorrent words and actions caused his victim to experience fear of harm and death," said Donald Alway, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office. "The FBI urges victims of stalking to contact law enforcement to make a report."

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 3 where Lackner will face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.