A former resident of Columbus, Ohio was sentenced to six months in prison and a $50,000 fine by a federal court on Tuesday for the harassment of his Jewish neigbhours.
Douglas G. Schifer was accused of repeatedly yelling anti-Semitic obscenities at his Jewish neighbors Nick and Tiffany Kinney in November 2020. The couple had recently moved into the neighborhood from California.
In a court appearance, they testified that he screamed “Hitler should have gassed you” and “That’s why he put you people in furnaces,” among other vulgarities.
That night as they were watching TV, Schifer threw rocks at their patio door and windows, shattering both. The incident was recorded on a doorbell camera.
Plea documents also detailed that Schifer threatened to poison the couple’s dog.
“I will poison your dog if it comes back to the fence,” he said.
He also admitted to threatening to shoot their dog and threatening to “burn to the ground” their garage that they were renovating into an apartment.
Schifer, who faced a federal hate crime charge, pleaded guilty in June to criminally interfering with the couple’s right to fair housing.
Court documents revealed that Schifer shouted other anti-Semitic slurs, obscenities and used “derogatory language about their religion” to the Jewish couple and their guests on November 7, 2020.
He also broke one of their windows and spat at one of them, and made further anti-Semitic statements about gassing Jewish people, chopping them up and burning them in ovens.