Irvine man admits to charges in connection to threats against 3 OC houses of worship

An Irvine man who composed “kill lists” with names of prominent Jewish community members and a list of steps for “killing my first Jew,” pleaded guilty to weapons and civil rights charges Friday in connection with threats against three Orange County houses of worship, officials said.

Nicholas Wesley Rose, 28 had conducted extensive internet searches on a synagogue and church in Irvine and another church in Lake Forest, and visited them between December 2017 and April 2018, said Kimberly Edds, spokeswoman with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Rose immediately was sentenced Friday to 825 days in prison, one year in a residential mental health treatment program, and five years formal probation with GPS monitoring, Edds said.

In April 2018, Orange police officers searched Rose’s apartment and found ammunition, anti-Semitic literature, “kill lists” of Jewish community members, which included well-known names in the entertainment industry, and notes referring to a synagogue in Irvine, a Greek Orthodox church also in Irvine and a Russian Orthodox Church in Lake Forest who spoke sympathetically to Jewish people.

Investigators also found a breadth of internet searches of white supremacy ideology, anti-Semitic literature, as well as the effective range of a silenced .22 long range rifle. In Rose’s car were hundreds of rounds of .22 caliber ammunition, a sleeping bag and shovel.

Rose’s parents had called authorities after they heard their son spew anti-Semitic language, saying that he wanted to “get a gun and kill some Jews.”

On Friday, he pleaded guilty to one felony count of carrying a loaded firearm that was not registered to him and three misdemeanor counts of violation of civil rights, the DA’s office said. He had originally faced three felony counts of attempted criminal threats.

As a part of his sentence, Rose is also required to stay 500 yards away from his victims and cooperate with the Orange County Probation Department regarding additional mental health treatment.

“There is no place for hate,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer in a statement. “He is a danger to society and every resident of Orange County should be aware of the threat he poses.”