DONALD TRUMP, US president
Gunman yells ‘all Jews must die’ before opening fire on Sabbath service congregants
‘America is stronger than the acts of a depraved bigot and antisemite. This evil antisemitic attack is an assault on all of us.’
AGUNMAN faces 29 charges of violent crimes after opening fire during a babynaming ceremony at a synagogue here on Saturday, killing 11 people and injuring six in the deadliest antisemitic attack in recent US history.
The shooter, identified as Robert Bowers, 46, reportedly yelled “All Jews must die” as he burst into the Tree of Life synagogue, where congregants gathered for Sabbath services.
Taken into custody after a shootout with police, the suspect was transferred to a hospital.
Prosecutors charged him with 29 counts of federal crimes, including 11 counts of using a firearm to commit murder and 11 counts of obstructing the exercise of religion resulting in death.
Authorities said Bowers’ charges could carry the death penalty.
President Donald Trump denounced “a wicked act of mass murder”, while his daughter, Ivanka, a convert to Judaism, said: “America is stronger than the acts of a depraved bigot and antisemite.”
“This evil antisemitic attack is an assault on all of us,” Trump told supporters at an election rally in Illinois, where he drew loud cheers as he vowed to enforce the death penalty for such crimes.
“We must stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters to defeat antisemitism and vanquish the forces of hate.”
Trump said he would soon travel here, where hundreds held a candlelit vigil late on Saturday.
He ordered all flags at the White House and at public grounds, military posts and naval stations to be flown at half-staff until Wednesday as a mark of “solemn respect” for the victims.
Stephen Weiss, 60, a member of the congregation, described hearing dozens of shots coming from the synagogue’s front lobby.
“We had services going on in the chapel when we heard a loud noise,” he told the Tribune-Review. “I recognised it as gunshots.”
Ben Opie, 55, lives in front of the synagogue and told journalists his wife was heading out for a volunteer shift when police demanded she stay inside.
Two hours later, Opie’s voice was still trembling.
“It’s just,” he said before pausing. “Sorry, it’s shaking me more than usual.”
Authorities said Bowers was armed with an assault rifle and at least three handguns when he opened fire shortly before 10am, leaving a scene described as “horrific” by Wendell Hissrich, Pittsburgh’s public safety director.
“One of the worst that I’ve seen. I’ve been on plane crashes,” said Hissrich, who confirmed that 11 people were killed and six injured. No children died.
“Hate Has No Home Here”, read a placard in a simple memorial, next to a heart-shaped US flag — the same slogan repeated in Hebrew and Arabic, with candles and bouquets of pink roses and carnations.
The US is witnessing a sharp spike in antisemitic incidents, surging 57 per cent from 2016 to last year, to 1,986 from 1,267, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a civil rights group that has tracked antisemitism in the US since the 1970s.
ADL said it believed the shooting here was the deadliest such attack in US history.
Bowers, who the Federal Bureau of Investigation said was not known to law enforcement, appeared to be the author of a rash of antisemitic online posts, notably on Gab.com, where conspiracy theories are common.
A quote atop the Bowers page said “jews are the children of satan”, according to screenshots of the now-suspended account released by the SITE Intelligence Group.
The Tree of Life Synagogue, whose congregation was founded more than 150 years ago, is in the Squirrel Hill neighbourhood that is historically the heart of Jewish life in greater Pittsburgh.
Neighbours in the quiet, peaceful well-heeled neighbourhood came out to provide police with coffee to stave off the drizzle as officers manned road blocks, sealing off all approaches to the scene.