Holocaust-denying German gunman gets life in prison for Yom Kippur rampage in 2019

Stephan Balliet, who is accused of shooting dead two people after an attempt to storm a synagogue in Halle an der Saale, wears a face mask as he waits for the start of the trial at the district court in Magdeburg, Germany, December 21, 2020. Ronny Hartmann/Pool via REUTERS

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AFP): A German court on Monday handed down a life sentence to the assailant behind a deadly far-right attack last year that nearly became the country's worst anti-Semitic atrocity since World War II.

A bolted door at the synagogue in the eastern city of Halle with 52 worshippers inside marking Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, was the only thing that prevented the heavily armed attacker from carrying out a planned bloodbath.