Synagogue attack:
Anti-Semitism must be defeated, Trump tells rally
Members and supporters of the Jewish community hold a candlelight vigil in front of the White House in Washington DC in remembrance of those who died during a shooting on Saturday at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
A man suspected of bursting into a Pittsburgh synagogue during a baby-naming ceremony and gunning down 11 people has been charged with murder, in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in recent US history.
The suspect, identified as 46year-old Robert Bowers, reportedly yelled “All Jews must die” as he sprayed bullets into the Tree of Life synagogue during Sabbath services on Saturday before exchanging fire with police, in an attack that also wounded six people. He was taken into custody and transferred to hospital before being charged with 11 counts of using a firearm to commit murder and 11 counts of obstructing the exercise of religion resulting in death.
President Donald Trump denounced “a wicked act of mass murder”, while his daughter Ivanka, a convert to Judaism, declared: “America is stronger than the acts of a depraved bigot and anti-Semite.”
“This evil anti-Semitic 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 fully enforce the death penalty for such crimes.
“We must stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters to defeat anti-Semitism and vanquish the forces of hate.”
Trump said he would soon travel to Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, where hundreds held a candlelit vigil late Saturday.
Stephen Weiss, 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 TribuneReview newspaper. “I recognised it as gunshots.”
Authorities said Bowers was armed with an assault rifle and at least three handguns when he opened fire.
Wendell Hissrich, Pittsburgh’s public safety director, described the scene after the attack as “horrific”.
“One of the worst that I have seen. I’ve been on plane crashes,” said Hissrich, who confirmed 11 people were killed, and six injured. No children were among the casualties.
“Hate Has No Home Here,” read a placard in a simple memorial, next to a heartshaped US flag and the same slogan was repeated in Hebrew and Arabic.
The US is witnessing a sharp spike in anti-Semitic incidents, surging 57% from 2016 to 2017, to 1,986 from 1,267, according to the Anti-Defamation League, a civil rights group that has tracked anti-Semitism in the country since the 1970s.
The league said it believes the Pittsburgh shooting is the deadliest such attack in US history.
“We are devastated,” said the group’s head, Jonathan Greenblatt. “Our hearts break for the victims, their families and the entire Jewish community.”
Bowers, who the FBI said was not previously known to law enforcement, appeared to be the author of a rash of antiSemitic online posts, notably on the Gab.com website, 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, which monitors extremist movements.
“The crimes of violence are based upon the federal civil rights laws prohibiting hate crimes,” a US prosecutor statement said.
Saturday’s attack comes at a time of heightened tensions a day after a Trump supporter from Florida was arrested for mailing explosive devices to Democrats and liberals, setting the country on edge ahead of elections on November 6.
The synagogue attack drew condemnation and messages of solidarity from world leaders, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring himself “heartbroken and appalled”.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel slammed an act of “blind anti-Semitic hatred”.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres urged a united front “to roll back the forces of racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other forms of hatred”.
The Tree of Life Synagogue is in the Squirrel Hill neighbourhood that is the heart of Jewish life in greater Pittsburgh.
A 2017 Brandeis University study found that more than 80% of residents in the suburb were concerned about rising antiSemitism.