Man convicted of threatening to blow up San Francisco synagogue
FILE – In this Friday, Oct. 11, 2019 file photo, candles reflect in an entrance sign after a human chain with lights was formed around the Jewish synagogue during the Sabbath celebrations in Halle (Saale), Germany, following an attack on the synagogue on Yom Kippur 2019. As Jews around the world gather Sunday night to mark the beginning of Yom Kippur, many in Germany remain uneasy about going together to their houses of worship to pray, a year after a white-supremacist targeted a synagogue in the eastern city of Halle on the holiest day in Judaism. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer, file)
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(KRON) — A jury has convicted a man of making criminal threats after he threatened to blow up a San Francisco synagogue in April 2022, the San Francisco District Attorney’s office announced.
Anatoly Smolkin, 39, walked into Temple Emanu-El, located at 2 Lake St. in the Inner Richmond, and threatened to kill everyone inside and blow the place up, according to the DA’s office. The incident happened just after noon on April 7, 2022.
Security notified SFPD, and Smolkin was arrested shortly after the incident.
“Mr. Smolkin’s conduct directly endangered not just the victim, but also, the congregants of Temple Emanu-El at large, said Assistant District Attorney Samantha Adhikari. “I am grateful to the jury for their swift, yet thoughtful deliberation despite challenging legal issues, and returning a verdict that contributes to ensuring public safety.”
Smolkin has been in custody since the day of the incident. He faces up to six years in state prison.
There was another potential act of violence against the Jewish community nearly a year later in the Richmond District when a man stormed into a synagogue and fired blanks. Dmitri Valerie Mishin, 51, was charged with multiple felonies for that incident.
