California Man Vows to “Bomb Every Synagogue in 20 Miles” in Horrific Anti-Semitic Rant
California man who bragged “I’m gonna blow up every synagogue in a 20-mile radius” and praised Hitler now faces federal prison after explicit bomb threat.
A 36-year-old San Luis Obispo resident with a long trail of Hitler praise and violent fantasies appeared in federal court Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to three felony counts after explicitly threatening to bomb every synagogue within 20 miles. Elijah Alexander King used his X account under the handle “Billy Badass” on August 28 to post: “I’m gonna blow up every synagogue in a 20-mile radius,” followed minutes later by, “This is a real threat send the police and report me for terrorism.” The account was directly linked to King’s personal email address and phone number.
Within ten minutes of the threat, King used his cellphone browser to repeatedly search for nearby synagogues. Police located him quickly, took him into custody, and transported him for a mandatory three-day psychiatric evaluation. After release, he immediately returned to X and gloated, “I got arrested and put on a 3 day psych hold for my posts against the Jews,” then reposted another user’s message declaring, “we don’t need gun control. We need Jew control.”
Investigators discovered the same account had previously been filled with open admiration for Adolf Hitler and photos of firearms, knives, and mace. Federal prosecutors charged King in October with three counts: transmission of threats and false information regarding explosives (up to 10 years), threats in interstate commerce (up to five years), and false information and hoaxes (up to five years). Trial is set for January 13, with the FBI leading the case alongside San Luis Obispo police.
The threat lands amid a nationwide explosion of antisemitic incidents since Hamas terrorists slaughtered 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 251 on October 7, 2023. FBI hate-crime statistics show attacks on American Jews have quadrupled, with synagogues firebombed, Jewish students assaulted on campuses, and Orthodox families attacked from New York to California. King’s explicit bomb threat—paired with his Hitler worship and calls for “Jew control”, is yet another data point in a wave of domestic terror that law enforcement says is increasingly inspired by online radicalization and open celebration of the October 7 massacre.