A California man who two years ago threatened to murder Jews with an illegally modified assault rifle was found guilty on Wednesday.
Ross Farca, 25, faces more than nine years in prison after a Contra Costa County, California jury handed down a guilty verdict on five charges, JWeekly reported.
Farca, who was described by the prosecutor as “a serious danger to members of the Jewish faith,” will be sentenced on December 29.
He was found guilty of four felonies: two counts of illegal manufacture and possession of an assault weapon and two counts for threatening a police officer. He was also found guilty of a civil rights misdemeanor for “oppress[ing] and threaten[ing] Jewish people in the free exercise and enjoyment” of their religious rights.
In 2019, Farca posted on gaming platform Steam that he wanted to commit a mass shooting of Jews.
Writing under an alias than that consisted of a string of numbers, Farca talked about how he would modify a semi-automatic weapon into a “machine gun.
“I currently own an AR15 semi auto rifle but I can buy/make the auto sear and get the M16 parts kit,” Farca wrote. “What do you think of me doing what [Poway shooter] John Earnest tried to do, but with a Nazi uniform, an unregistered and illegally converted ‘machine gun’ and actually livestreaming it with Nazi music? I would get a body count of like 30 k**es and then like 5 police officers because I would also decide to fight to the death.”
A Steam user who saw the post tipped off the FBI. Concord, California police used a database to determine that Farca had purchased a gun and used that evidence to search his mother’s house, where he lived. Inside, they found an AR-15-style assault rifle under the sheets of a bunk bed, 13 high-capacity magazines, other ammunition, a sword and Nazi-related books.
During the trial, the prosecution called a weapons expert to testify who said that Fara’s legally purchased rifle had been modified using online parts, including a pistol grip and telescopic sight.
Farca’s lawyer, Cynthia Scofield, argued that her client had not made a real threat, but was trolling the site. She also said that her client had autism and obsessive compulsive disorder, and that while he tested at average to high intelligence, his social skills were those of a six-year old.
“The verdict did not reflect Mr. Farca’s limitations,” Scofield said, adding that Farca was going to appeal the verdict.
The San Francisco chapter of the ADL praised the outcome of the trial.
“ADL hails the jury conviction of Ross Farca on California threat, weapons, and hate crime charges. Farca espoused intense hatred towards Jews and expressed a desire to mass murder both Jews and responding law enforcement,” Seth Brysk, ADL central pacific regional director, said in a statement.
“We thank District Attorney Diana Becton and the Concord Police Department for their tireless efforts to see justice done. In particular, we applaud their tenacity in investigating and charging this case as a hate crime – it sends a powerful message of support to the Jewish community.”
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)