A 13-year-old boy was arrested and charged in September for plotting a mass shooting at Temple Israel, a synagogue in Canton, Ohio. The teen, whose identity remains undisclosed due to his age, faced misdemeanor charges of inducing panic and disorderly conduct.
The charges emerged after the boy’s detailed plan to target the synagogue was discovered on the online chat platform Discord. Discord has previously been used by mass shooters to discuss their plans. The Stark County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to the plot by Discord on September 1, 2023, and promptly notified the local school system, causing widespread public concern.
According to a filing by Stark County Family Court, the sheriff’s office’s swift action potentially prevented the incident at the synagogue.
During questioning, the teen admitted his affiliation with various anti-Semitic and politically extremist groups on Discord, as noted in court documents.
This incident occurs amidst a worrying increase in antisemitic attacks in the U.S., paralleled by a rise in anti-Muslim violence. These incidents have escalated following the conflict between Israel and Hamas in early October. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in Cleveland has expressed alarm at this incident, emphasizing the importance of using such events as educational opportunities against hatred and threats, both online and offline.
In a plea agreement reached with the juvenile court on December 15, the boy pleaded guilty to planning the synagogue shooting. The plea deal mandates that he undergo counseling and complete a book report on Carl Lutz, a Swiss diplomat who helped save Hungarian Jews during World War II. This part of the agreement was disclosed by a Stark County, Ohio court administrator.
The juvenile initially received a 180-day detention sentence, with 10 days credited for time served and the remainder suspended. This plea agreement circumvented a juvenile court trial. The judge has placed the teenager on 12 months of probation, during which he must attend counseling sessions and is prohibited from unsupervised internet use.
The Canton, Ohio incident is part of a broader pattern. Recently, a man in Albany, New York was federally charged for firing shots outside a synagogue, and a Jewish couple was assaulted en route to their synagogue in Beverly Hills, California. The suspect in the latter case faces multiple felony charges and potential life imprisonment.
The ADL has reported a significant increase in antisemitic incidents, with over 2,000 cases including assaults, vandalism, harassment, and rallies featuring antisemitic rhetoric since early October, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.
