A Columbus man who was charged with hate crime after making anti-Semitic comments and threats against his neighbors has pleaded guilty to the prosecution.
Douglas G. Schifer, 66, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in the South Ohio District Court in Columbus on June 28 under a plea agreement. He also has moved out of Franklin Countysaid his attorney Samuel H. Shamansky of the Shamansky law firm in Columbus.
Schifer is alleged to have used violence and threatened his neighbors Tiffany and Nick Kinney from the Columbus neighborhood of Olde Towne East because they are Jews. Schifer was arrested on March 18.
On November 7, 2020, incident, Schifer yelled at his neighbors loudly at the Kinney’s anti-Semitic slurs, profanity, and other derogatory expressions about their religion.
Court documents say he broke one of the Kinney’s windows and spat on one of them. He is also reported to have said he would shoot the neighbors, poison their dog and burn down a garage that they would convert into an apartment. An FBI investigator said Schifer reportedly pointed out the gassing of Jewish people and burning them in ovens.
