Utah man searched Google Maps for synagogue after allegedly threatening to bomb one, prosecutors say

(Oct. 22, 2026 / JNS)

Skyler AJ Rose, 22, of Ogden, Utah, was indicted on Wednesday on five federal counts, including attempting to commit a hate crime, after investigators allegedly linked him to threats against a synagogue and found six functional pipe bombs in his home.

Rose also faces charges of possessing an unregistered destructive device, threatening to kill or injure people and destroy a building with explosives, and receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Thursday.

According to court documents, investigators found searches for “synagogue Ogden” on Rose’s phone from November 2025. He also allegedly used Google Maps to locate a synagogue about three miles from his home. Congregation Brith Sholem, a Reform synagogue that is more than a century old, is the only Jewish house of worship in Ogden. (JNS sought comment from the congregation.)

The following month, Rose allegedly posted multiple threats on social media, including, “Greetings from America. Death to all Jews. I will devote my life to killing you! Heil Hitler!” He also posted “Death to Israel,” according to prosecutors. Another post threatened to blow up a synagogue.

On Dec. 23, officers searched Rose’s home and discovered pipe bombs in his bedroom, prompting the evacuation of his home and neighboring residences. A subsequent search recovered six pipe bombs, an inert device, explosive materials and components that could be used to construct additional bombs, as well as two rifles and ammunition, prosecutors said.

In a detention memo filed on Oct. 21 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, prosecutors argued that Rose should remain jailed pending trial. They argued that he could obtain supplies and build more bombs within days, even under home confinement.

“Defendant poses a completely unmanageable risk of danger to the community,” prosecutors wrote.

Rose was already under state court supervision after pleading no contest to charges stemming from firing a homemade shotgun in public, according to the memo.

At a press conference on Thursday, Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, said that Jews have been targeted by antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment since Oct. 7.

Rose “openly declared his hatred for Israel and his intent to kill Jews,” she said. “Today’s indictment stops in its tracks an alleged plan to carry out a violent attack on a synagogue.”

Rose’s initial federal court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 23 in Salt Lake City.