Pittsburgh synagogue gunman is found guilty in the deadliest attack on Jewish people in U.S. history

A truck driver who spewed hatred of Jews was convicted Friday of storming a Pittsburgh synagogue and shooting everyone he could find on a Sabbath morning, killing 11 congregants in an act of antisemitic terror for which he could be sentenced to die.

The guilty verdict was a foregone conclusion after Robert Bowers’ lawyers conceded at the trial’s outset that he attacked and killed worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018, in the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. Jurors must now decide whether the 50year-old should be sent to death row or sentenced to life in prison without parole as the federal trial shifts to a penalty phase expected to last several weeks.

Bowers was convicted of all 63 criminal counts he faced, including hate crimes resulting in death and obstruction of the free exercise of religion resulting in death.

His attorneys had offered a guilty plea in return for a life sentence, but prosecutors refused, opting instead to take the case to trial and pursue the death penalty. Most of the victims’ families supported that decision.

“I am grateful to God for getting us to this day,” Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life Congregation, who survived the attack, said in a written statement.

“And I am thankful for the law enforcement who ran into danger to rescue me, and the U.S. Attorney who stood up in court to defend my right to pray.”

The jury deliberated for about five hours over two days before reaching a verdict. Bowers, wearing a dark sweater and blue shirt, had little reaction.

Several survivors and victims’ relatives were in the courtroom, bearing quiet witness. Sniffles could be heard in the gallery as the judge intoned “guilty” dozens of times.

Bowers, who had raged against Jews online and at the synagogue, turned a sacred house of worship into a “hunting ground,” targeting his victims because of their religion, a prosecutor said Thursday.

All three congregations sharing the building —

Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life — lost members in the attack. The victims ranged in age from 54 to 97.

Congregational leaders said the trial opened new wounds but was also validating.

“We learned things that we did not know,” said Stephen Cohen, co-president of New Light. “… In that sense, it was traumatizing. But it’s also, in a sense, cathartic because you did hear what happened.”

Jo Recht, president of Dor Hadash, applauded the prosecutors’ solid case.

“They drew a picture that was even more horrific than we had imagined,”

Recht said. “And the level of antisemitism, the level of hatred, the volume of the outrageous (social media) posts was really sobering and really frightening. So for the jury to come back so quickly with the verdict of guilty on all 63 counts was affirming, and it was a relief.”

Prosecutors presented evidence of Bowers’ deepseated animosity toward Jews and immigrants.

Over 11 days of testimony, jurors learned that he had extensively posted, shared or liked antisemitic and white supremacist content on Gab, a social media platform popular with the far right, and praised Hitler and the Holocaust. Bowers told police that “all these Jews need to die,” Hahn said.

Jewish community members were bracing for the next stage of the trial, which would determine if Bowers is eligible for and should receive the death penalty. The penalty phase is scheduled to start June 26.

“It’s just as traumatic,” Cohen said. “Because now we get into learning about the shooter. In four and a half years, he has said nothing. We don’t know who he is. … There’s no background, nothing other than the Gab posts. So we’re going to be learning what kind of horrible human being he really is.”

Bowers, who was armed with an AR-15 rifle and other weapons, also shot and wounded seven, including five responding police officers.