Trump to visit amid divide over synagogue attack
Shackled to a wheelchair, the man accused of fatally shooting 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue made a stony-faced, largely silent appearance on Monday in a federal courtroom, where he was ordered held without bond in the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the United States.
The arraignment of accused gunman Robert Bowers came as the White House said US President Donald Trump would visit Pittsburgh on Tuesday to pay respects to the victims, a move opposed by the mayor and some of the city’s Jewish leaders.
Bowers, 46, wounded in a gunfight with police on Saturday at the Tree of Life synagogue before his arrest, acknowledged the 29 felony counts against him, including charges of violating US civil rights laws in what federal prosecutors are treating as a hate crime.
If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
The synagogue massacre has heightened debate over the inflammatory rhetoric used by Trump, with critics, including Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, saying it had fostered a climate of political hostility and encouraged right-wing extremism.
“Yes, words matter,” Peduto, a Democrat, said during a CNN interview on Monday. He also said he believed Trump should wait until all the funerals were held before coming to Pittsburgh.
The president and first lady planned to travel on Tuesday to Pennsylvania to “express the support of the American people and grieve with the Pittsburgh community”, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.
Over the weekend, Trump branded Saturday’s shooting an act of pure evil but also told reporters the slaying might have been prevented had an armed guard been present at the synagogue.
Professor Daniel J. Flannery, director of the Begun Center for Violence Prevention and Research at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, said: “There is no evidence that arming more people, particularly those who are not highly (and regularly) trained, would effectively prevent these tragic mass shootings,” he said. “It would likely lead to more accidental shootings, especially with law enforcement first responders who may not know who is a possible perpetrator and those who may be responding civilians.”
The government has rejected the notion that Trump has encouraged white nationalists and neo-Nazis who have embraced him. But a group of local Jewish leaders told Trump in an open letter on Monday he was “not welcome in Pittsburgh until you fully denounce white nationalism”.
Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, said, however, on ABC on Monday that the president of the United States was always welcome to visit.
Election campaign
Trump previously drew condemnation from Democrats and Republicans alike for saying that “many sides” were to blame for violence that erupted last year during a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and during a torch-lit march the night before by hundreds of right-wing demonstrators chanting: “White lives matter” and “Jews will not replace us”.
Trump’s visit will take place just a week before the hotly contested Nov 6 congressional elections, which will determine if Trump’s Republicans keep a majority in Congress. His appearance in Pittsburgh also will coincide with the first funerals for some of the slain worshippers.
AP, William Hennelly in New York and Reuters contributed to this story.