Boy Who Planned Attack Must Write Book Report

Ohio judge issues unusual order over synagogue plot
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 16, 2023 2:40 PM CST
Boy, 13, Sentenced for Planning Shooting at Synagogue
Temple Israel Synagogue in Canton, Ohio, is shown Wednesday.   (Kevin Whitlock/The Independent via AP)

A 13-year-old Ohio boy accused of planning a mass shooting at a synagogue has been ordered to spend a year on probation. The Canton Repository reports that the Plain Township boy pleaded true, the juvenile equivalent of guilty, on Friday to misdemeanor counts of inducing panic and disorderly conduct. Authorities said that a "detailed plan to complete a mass shooting" at Temple Israel in Canton, south of Akron, was posted on the live-streaming platform Discord, per the AP. Stark County Family Court Judge Jim James ordered probation, according to a court document, but suspended a 90-day sentence at the Multi-County Juvenile Attention Center.

The boy is barred from using the internet without supervision and was ordered to continue counseling with a therapist. He also was told to read a book about Carl Lutz, the Swiss diplomat credited with saving the lives of tens of thousands of Jews from the Holocaust in Budapest, Hungary, during World War II. The youth must then submit a book report to the juvenile probation department. According to documents released by the county sheriff's office, an FBI agent alerted officials Sept. 7 to posts between the boy and a person in Washington state that allegedly included a map of the synagogue and plans to burn down and "shoot up" the building. Discord later said it reported the discussions to the FBI, the newspaper reported.

(More synagogue stories.)

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