(JTA) — A Southern California man was arrested and charged with hate crimes for allegedly having “kill lists” with the names of prominent Jewish community members, including some in the entertainment industry.
Nicholas Rose of Irvine pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges including three felony counts of attempted criminal threats and three misdemeanor counts of civil rights violation, with sentencing enhancements for hate crimes, the Orange County Register reported.
Rose, 26, was also found to be in possession of .22-caliber ammunition, anti-Semitic literature and a list of steps titled, “Killing my first Jew” when his home was searched on Tuesday, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
The search came a day after Rose allegedly told a family member about his desire to kill people, specifically mentioning threats against Jews. The relative called local police.
Police also found notes written by Rose that mentioned the Beth Jacob Congregation and St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church in Irvine, and the St. Barbara Russian Orthodox Church in Lake Forest, California, as targets for hate crimes. The churches were targets because Rose disagreed with their sympathetic position on Jews.
He is scheduled to appear in court in Santa Ana on April 27 for a pretrial hearing, the local television station KTLA reported. Rose faces up to six years and six months in state prison. He is being held on $500,000 bail.
