White supremacist gunman in US synagogue massacre
Two survivors still critical after worshippers had to hide in the basement as the assassin opened fire
A GUNMAN burst into a synagogue in Pittsburgh during the Jewish Sabbath yesterday, shooting dead at least eleven people in America’s worst anti-Semitic attack in living memory.
Robert Bowers, 46, yelled “all Jews must die” as he opened fire, believed to be with a semi-automatic rifle.
The shooting happened at the Tree of Life Congregation in a suburb of the Pennsylvania city. About 100 people were in the synagogue at the time, many attending a baby’s circumcision.
Bowers had left a trail of white supremacist comments and antiSemitic abuse on social media, including sharing posts denying the Holocaust.
An hour before the attack he wrote online that Jewish “invaders” were “killing our people”. “I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in,” he wrote. Reuters reported that eleven people had been killed, although police would not comment on the death toll. Four of the 12 people reported injured were police officers. The gunman gave up after being wounded as he tried to get back to his car.
Donald Trump said introducing armed security at synagogues, and churches should be considered.
“They had a maniac walk in and they didn’t have any protection, and that is so sad to see,” the president said.
in New York THE GUNMAN who killed 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh yesterday will face federal charges that carry the death penalty, the US Justice Department said.
“Hatred and violence on the basis of religion can have no place in our society,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said.
“These alleged crimes are reprehensible and utterly repugnant to the values of this nation. Accordingly, the Department of Justice will file hate crimes and other criminal charges against the defendant, including charges that could lead to the death penalty.”
The suspect, identified by police as Pittsburgh resident Robert Bowers, 46, has been taken into custody.
Three police officers were among the wounded in what authorities said was a hate crime. Officers describing the scene over a police scanner said the gunman gave himself up after being injured. “All these Jews have to die,” he said as he crawled towards them.
Donald Trump, the US president, was quick to insist tougher gun laws would have made little difference, but the latest attack will also fuel fears that religious and race hate is on the rise.
This is the most severe attack on a US synagogue in living memory and the worst anti-Semitic attack for decades. Stephen Weiss, who was in a service at the Tree of Life Synagogue at the time, described how members of the congregation fled and hid in the basement.
“It sounded like a loud crash in the hallway,” he said, describing rapid gunfire that suggested an automatic weapon. Mr Weiss told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that when he got to the basement he found other members of the congregation also hiding there.
Officers said the gunman was armed with a semi-automatic rifle and a handgun. Wendell Hissrich, the public safety director for Pittsburgh, said detectives were sifting the site for evidence. “It’s a very horrific crime scene. It’s one of the worst I’ve seen – and I’ve been on plane crashes,” he told a news conference.
The alleged shooter was active on Gab, a social media platform popular with free speech advocates and white supremacists. An hour before the attack, he posted a message accusing HIAS, a refugee charity set up originally to help persecuted Jews, of bringing “invaders in that kill our people”.
“I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered,” he wrote. “Screw your optics, I’m going in.”
The user shared memes spread by Holocaust deniers, questioning the Jewish death toll in Nazi Germany, and criticised Mr Trump for failing to tackle an “infestation” of Jews.
Gab deactivated his account soon after the shooting.
The tree-lined residential neighbourhood of Squirrel Hill, about 10 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh, is the hub of the city’s Jewish community. Its imposing concrete façade is punctuated by rows of swirling, modern stained-glass windows illustrating the story of creation, the acceptance of God’s law, the “life cycle” and “how human-beings should care for the earth and one another,” according to its website.
Three congregations meet there and all three were holding services between 9.45am and noon, with about 100 people in the building. A class usually held on the third floor had been cancelled, the synagogue said.
Michael Eisenberg, former president of the synagogue, told KDKA that police were normally only present at the synagogue for security on high holidays. “On a day like today, the door is open, it’s a religious service, you can walk in and out,” he said, adding that there had been no threats reported.
The attack comes after months of warnings by Jewish groups that antiSemitic attacks were on the increase.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported earlier this year that anti-Semitic incidents surged more than 50 per cent in 2017, to almost 2000 cases, the biggest increase since they began collecting data.
Jonathan Greenblatt of the ADL said: “We are devastated. Jews targeted on Shabbat morning at synagogue, a holy place of worship, is unconscionable. Our hearts break for the victims, their families; the entire Jewish community.”
Mr Trump said he was monitoring events as they unfolded. He wrote on Twitter: “Events in Pittsburgh are far more devastating than originally thought. Spoke with Mayor and Governor to inform them that the Federal Government has been, and will be, with them all the way.”
He later told reporters the problem was not gun laws but that the outcome would have been different if the synagogue had armed guards. “They didn’t have any protection,” he said as he left Washington for a campaign event.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said on Saturday he was “heartbroken”. “The entire people of Israel grieve with the families of the dead. We stand together with the Jewish community of Pittsburgh, we stand together with the American people in the face of this horrendous anti-Semitic brutality and we all pray for the speedy recovery of the wounded,” he said.
‘It’s a very horrific crime scene – one of the worst I’ve seen – and I’ve been on plane crashes’