It was the second appearance in a courtroom for the accused Poway synagogue shooter.
And if you watched the video of it or saw it on TV, John Earnest looks like as normal a 19 year old young man as any other student at Cal State San Marcos where he attended.
He is clean shaven, the look on his face almost as if he is sitting in a classroom listening to a professor giving a lecture.
It’s impossible to know what his parents were thinking as they sat in the courtroom staring at their son whose defense they said they will not pay for having condemned the shooting.
They see him sitting in a secured area, shackled at his ankles and wrists connected by a chain around his waist with what is described as a five-point restraint.
And as quiet and as normal looking as he appears, his parents and others who knew him have to be trying to understand that if he did what he is charged with doing, how could such a normal typical looking guy have done it.
And where does the hate come from in anyone who does something like this.And that is a question that we all are confronted with. But to prevent shootings like this, we need to keep looking for the answer.
(Photo credit Getty Images)