(CNN) -
A Colorado man pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to federal hate crimes and explosives charges for conspiring to bomb the Temple Emanuel synagogue in Pueblo, Colorado, according to federal prosecutors.
Richard Holzer, 27, was arrested by the FBI last November.
He was indicted by a federal investigative jury for hate crimes and arson.
"Holzer pleaded guilty to intentionally attempting to obstruct people in the enjoyment of their free exercise of religious beliefs ... And to maliciously attempting to damage and destroy, by fire and explosives, a building used in interstate commerce," announced the Department of Justice Thursday.
“The actions that Holzer admitted in the plea agreement meet the federal definition of domestic terrorism.
Since they involved criminal acts dangerous to human life that were intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population.
LOOK
: White supremacist planned to bomb synagogue in Colorado
The FBI began its investigation of Holzer in late September after receiving a tip about the comments he made online.
So said last year the chief official of the office in Colorado.
advertising
Undercover FBI agents contacted Holzer online shortly after the information.
And they interacted with him while he allegedly planned the attack on Temple Emanuel, authorities said.
Holzer allegedly wanted to take down the synagogue and send a message to the congregation that they were not welcome, according to the criminal complaint.
He spoke about killing Jews on online forums and shared a video of himself around a synagogue in Pueblo, according to the complaint.
Officials said he described himself as a 'skinhead'.
And he shared photos of himself with other social media users with guns and knives along with symbols of white supremacism.
Holzer, according to prosecutors, wrote on a Facebook account: "I wish the Holocaust really happened ... they need to die."
A public defender representing Holzer declined to comment on the case.
Meeting with undercover agents
In a later meeting with three undercover officers at a restaurant in Colorado Springs, Holzer proposed using Molotov cocktails to destroy the Pueblo synagogue, according to the complaint in his case.
"I want something that tells you that you are not welcome in this city," Holzer said, referring to the Jewish people in the community.
And he added: "Let's get that site off the map," according to the criminal complaint.
In a meeting with undercover FBI agents, authorities provided him with inert pipe bombs and 14 sticks of dynamite, which authorities said had been prepared with simulated black powder at the FBI's explosives laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.
The Justice Department said Holzer displayed a copy of Adolf Hitler's manifesto, "Mein Kampf," during his interaction with undercover FBI agents.
And he told them that "this is an action for our race."
The FBI arrested him shortly after and took him to a local police station, where he admitted he planned to bomb the synagogue, according to the complaint.
Following his guilty plea on Thursday, Holzer will be sentenced on January 20, 2021.
LEE
: Group accused in plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan discussed choosing the governor of Virginia, says FBI agent
The Justice Department says he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the hate crime charge.
And 20 years for the explosives charge.
As well as a fine of up to US $ 250,000 and a term of supervised release.
"The defendant attempted to bomb the Temple Emanuel synagogue to expel people of Jewish faith from his community," said Under Secretary of Justice Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division.
«Violence motivated by religious intolerance strikes the heart of a free society.
And the Department of Justice will continue to investigate and prosecute these violent hateful acts.
Colorado
