Teen who planned Ohio synagogue attack must write book report on WWII hero who saved Jews

A 13-year-old boy who was convicted of plotting to attack an Ohio synagogue will have to write a book report about a Swiss diplomat who saved thousands of Jewish people during World War II, a family court judge ruled.

The teenager will also have to serve a year of probation after he appeared Friday in Stark County Family Court to enter a plea of true – the juvenile equivalent of guilty – to misdemeanor counts of inducing panic and disorderly conduct.

Sheriff's deputies arrested the boy in September after an investigation uncovered a detailed plan to "burn down and shoot up" Temple Israel in Canton, a small city located south of Akron. The boy was accused of sharing his plan on Discord, an online chat platform.

“We stand by a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to threats made against our community,” Stark County Sheriff George Maier said in a statement last week. “Every threat is investigated thoroughly with the seriousness it deserves. We work diligently to ensure that those responsible are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

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Judge: Boy must read book about Carl Lutz, submit report

After the boy admitted to the charges, Stark County Family Court Judge Jim James prohibited him from using the internet without supervision for a year during his probation, according to a court document filed in the case.

The boy was also ordered to read a book about Carl Lutz, the Swiss diplomat credited with saving the lives of more than 62,000 Hungarian Jews from the Holocaust during World War II. The boy then must submit a book report to the juvenile probation department about Lutz, who issued credentials to thousands of Jewish families living under Nazi occupation in Budapest.

The 13 year old also has to continue to get counseling with a licensed therapist.

An upcoming hearing in the case, initially scheduled for Wednesday, was canceled after the agreement was reached.

Friday's hearing took place a day after Stark County Family Court Judge Michelle Cordova signed an order sealing the boy's name, except for his initials, and any other information that could lead to his identification. That included the name of his mother.

The order came as the national media took interest in the case amid national scrutiny of antisemitism across the country since the Hamas attacks in Israel on Oct. 7 that killed about 1,200 people.

Plans for synagogue attack discussed on Discord

The boy had admitted to being a member of more than one antisemitic Discord group when questioned Sept. 7 by an FBI agent and two Stark County sheriff's deputies who met with him and his mother, according to an incident report released last week.

The FBI agent had learned the boy was discussing plans with an unknown person in Washington state to burn down and conduct a shooting at the synagogue. The report said the plans included maps of the synagogue, which may have been made by the boy and the other person.

The boy was arrested that same day after questioning and taken to a juvenile detention center.

Discord, a popular group-chat app platform that has been used in the past by mass shooters and other extremists, later confirmed that it detected the boy's online activities and reported them to the FBI. The company told USA TODAY that its report to the FBI is what led to the arrest.

"We have a zero-tolerance policy against hate and violent extremism, and when we see it, we take immediate action," John Redgrave, Discord vice president of trust and safety, said in a statement.

Antisemitism on the rise

Although the boy's arrest happened before Hamas attacked Israel, his charges come amid an increase in antisemitic attacks in the United States.

Antisemitic hate crimes and incidents had already been steadily increasing throughout the year across the country, but they spiked considerably since the start of the war.

Antisemitic hate crimes rose 25% from 2021 to 2022, according to the most recent FBI statistics. Although Jewish people make up only 2.4% of the U.S. population, they are the targets of more than half of all reported religion-based hate crimes.

Since Oct. 7, the Anti-Defamation League, an advocacy group that frequently speaks out against antisemitism and extremism, has tracked 832 anti-Jewish acts in the United States.

Earlier this month, three of the nation’s most prominent university presidents appeared for a congressional hearing where they offered widely criticized testimony about how they’re handling a troubling rise in antisemitism on campus. Since then, House passed a bipartisan resolution last week denouncing their testimony, while University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned amid the uproar.

Contributing: Will Carless