As the man who plotted to bomb Colorado s second-oldest synagogue prepares to start serving his prison sentence, Pueblo’s Jewish community feels not hate, but gratitude, and even sympathy.
Michael Atlas-Acuna, president of the board of directors for Pueblo’s Temple Emanuel, said Monday he and members of the congregation are “all very filled with gratitude. I think justice has been served, he said. We all feel like the system worked. The judiciary system worked properly and the police department, sheriff’s department and FBI all did their part to make all of this work.
Richard Holzer was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court to a 19 ½ year federal prison term. He pleaded guilty last October to attempted arson and attempt to obstruct persons in the enjoyment of their free exercise of religious beliefs through force and the attempted use of explosives and fire.