‘I HEARD HIM EXECUTE MY CONGREGANTS’
The man authorities say carried out the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history presents an unnerving paradox, combining an unremarkable public facade in person that contrasts with a raging online presence. A social media account with his name repeatedly posted comments rife with anti-semitism and other bigotry, but people who encountered him in person described him as an unremarkable loner who gave no indication of that hatred or left no impression at all.
Robert Gregory Bowers, 46, who was shot and wounded in a gun battle with police at the Tree of Life synagogue Saturday, arrived at the federal courthouse in downtown Pittsburgh less than two hours after his release from hospital.
He faces more than two dozen federal charges, including hate crime counts for which prosecutors say they hope to seek the death penalty.
Federal marshals wheeled Bowers, wearing a blue sweatshirt and grey sweatpants, into the courtroom at 1:30 p.m. He appeared coherent and aware of what was going on, answering “Yes” when the judge asked him his name and whether he had requested a public defender because he could not afford his own attorney.
It did not appear that any friends or family of Bowers attended.
U.S. attorney Scott Brady has begun the process of seeking the death penalty, a decision that rests with the attorney general. Brady told reporters: “Rest assured, we have a team of prosecutors working hard to ensure that justice is done.”
Meanwhile, people in grief-stricken Pittsburgh prepared to bury the 11 dead. Funerals were scheduled to begin on Tuesday for the victims, who included a 97-year-old woman, a husband and wife and two brothers.
The sense of community seen at vigils across the country gave way to still more rancour that stretched to Washington and beyond. More than 30,000 people signed an open letter to President Donald Trump from leaders of a Pittsburgh-based liberal Jewish group saying he would not be welcome unless he denounced white nationalism and “stop targeting and endangering all minorities.”
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump and first lady Melania Trump planned to visit Pennsylvania on Tuesday to “express the support of the American people and grieve with Pittsburgh community.” The announcement came after Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto, a Democrat, told reporters that Trump should not visit while the funerals of the victims are underway.
“We do not have enough public safety officials to provide enough protection at the funerals and to be able at the same time draw attention to a potential presidential visit,” Peduto told reporters. “If the president is looking to come to Pittsburgh I would ask that he not do so while we are burying the dead.”
Sanders, who called the shooting “an act of evil,” also defended Trump amid criticism that he has stoked divisions by refusing to tone down his rhetoric in the wake of the shooting and last week’s mail bombs targeting the president’s critics.
“The very first thing that the president did was to condemn the attacks, both in Pittsburgh and in the pipe bombs,” Sanders said. “The very first thing the media did was blame the president and make him responsible for these ridiculous acts.”
She added: “You can’t start putting the responsibility of individuals on anybody but the individual who carries out the crime.”
In Pittsburgh, Bowers seems to have left little imprint on those he encountered over the years. Two of his classmates at Baldwin High School said his photo appeared along with others in the Class of ’90 in the yearbook from their junior year there. Neither remembers him.
“Everybody I talked to didn’t remember him,” said classmate John Korpiel of Wexford, Penn. “He must have been a real loner or something.”
The Baldwin-whitehall School District said Bowers attended Baldwin High School from August 1986 to November 1989 but did not graduate.
Myers, the rabbi, on Monday gave horrifying new details of the attack. Speaking on NBC’S Today Show and separately on CNN, Myers said the morning Shabbat services had started normally when suddenly he heard a loud noise. Then he saw three people from another congregation running on the stairs and heard semi-automatic gunfire. He told everyone to “drop to the floor, don’t utter a sound, and don’t move,” he told CNN.
He ushered the people in the front pews toward exits or closets where they could hide. But there were eight people in the rear pews of the sanctuary, he said, and when he turned back toward them he heard the gunfire getting louder, and realized it was no longer safe to be there. He went upstairs to the choir loft, and called 911. He hid in a bathroom that had no lock on it.
“I heard him execute my congregants,” he told NBC. “I didn’t watch it. I couldn’t watch it.”
Investigators recovered three handguns, two rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition from Bowers’s residence, a law enforcement official said, which adds to the four weapons authorities said they recovered at the synagogue.