Trump DOJ Indicts Utah Man Who Allegedly Vowed to 'Blow Up a Synagogue' and Kept Six Working Pipe Bombs at Home

A federal grand jury has charged Skyler AJ Rose, 22, of Ogden, Utah, with five crimes, including an attempted hate crime, after he allegedly posted that he wanted to blow up a synagogue while six working pipe bombs sat in his bedroom. The Trump Justice Department announced the case Thursday in Salt Lake City, according to the DOJ.

"Today's indictment stops in its tracks an alleged plan to carry out a violent attack on a synagogue," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who runs the department's Civil Rights Division and traveled to Salt Lake City for the announcement, per the DOJ and the Washington Examiner.

How he was caught

It started with a tip to the FBI. On Dec. 23, 2025, at about 4:30 p.m., Ogden police got word through the state's intelligence center that threats against Jews and their houses of worship had been posted online, likely from a home in Ogden, the Ogden Police Department said. The posts were on X and were traced to the house where Rose lived, KSL reported.

Family members let officers in, and police could see what looked like a pipe bomb in Rose's bedroom before they even stepped inside, according to KSL. A search turned up six finished pipe bombs, parts for four more, including ball bearings meant to cause more injuries, and two AK-style rifles with ammunition. Bomb technicians removed the devices in an operation that ran through the night, police said. Rose was arrested that evening, ABC4 reported.

The posts were blunt. "I wanna blow up a synagogue," one read. Another: "Death to all Jews I will devote my life to killing you! heil hitler," KSL reported, citing the indictment.

What the phone showed

Right after the arrest, Ogden's police chief said there was no proof a specific synagogue was the target, the Standard-Examiner reported. A later search of his phone filled in the picture. Investigators found Rose had searched online for a synagogue near him in November 2025, the DOJ said, and had pulled up directions to one in Ogden, per KSL. The phone also held hundreds of images of child sexual abuse, prosecutors say, including at least one of a child under 12, the indictment states.

The charges

In plain terms, Rose is charged with receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material, having an illegal homemade bomb, threatening to kill people and blow up a building, and trying to hurt people because of their religion, the indictment shows. Together the five counts carry up to 70 years in prison, the Washington Examiner reported.

He was already on thin ice. In May 2025, Rose was arrested for firing a homemade shotgun in public in Ogden. He pleaded no contest under a deal that would have wiped the case if he stayed out of trouble, KSL reported. His probation in that case was revoked after the bomb arrest. He also still faces 14 state felonies over the same threats and bombs, with a state hearing Nov. 5. He was ordered held without bail after that arrest, KSL reported, and federal prosecutors have asked a judge to keep him locked up, per KSL.

The synagogue

Ogden has one synagogue, Congregation Brith Sholem, the oldest continuously active synagogue in Utah, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Its president, Janice Ward, said it serves about 90 to 100 people. "It was fairly frightening when that happened," she told Fox13. Even before the threats, the congregation had bulletproof glass, cameras and armed guards at every service, Ward told KUTV last year.

What's next

Rose makes his first federal court appearance Friday, Oct. 23, at 1:30 p.m. at the federal courthouse in Salt Lake City, the DOJ said. Judge Jill N. Parrish has the case, per the indictment. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty. But as U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak put it, the alleged threats "were identified and stopped before anyone was harmed," the DOJ said.