THIS WAS AN ANTI-SEMITIC INCIDENT PERIOD AND END OF THE STATEMENT. THE VERDICT TELLS US THE JURY AGREED THAT THE DEFENDANT KILLED PEOPLE THAT DAY BECAUSE THEY WERE JEWISH. THOSE 11 PEOPLE ALL GATHERED FOR SHABBAT SERVICES WERE ROSE MALLINGER. DR. JERRY RABINOWITZ BROTHERS CECIL AND DAVID ROSENTHAL, DANIEL STEIN, RICHARD GOTTFRIED, JOYCE FEINBERG, MELVIN WAX, IRVING YOUNGER AND HUSBAND AND WIFE SYLVAN AND BERNICE SIMON. DURING WEEKS OF TESTIMONY, THE VICTIMS FAMILIES AND SURVIVING MEMBERS OF THE THREE CONGREGATIONS SAW GRAPHIC IMAGES AND HEARD ABOUT THE MANNER IN WHICH THEIR LOVED ONES DIED. THEY LISTENED TO A 911 CALL FROM BERNICE SIMON, AND THEY HUNG ON TO EVERY WORD UTTERED BY SWAT OPERATORS WHO TESTIFIED ABOUT THEIR MISSION TO SAVE PEOPLE THAT DAY AND NEUTRALIZE THE SHOOTER, THAT SAME SHOOTER IN THE COURTROOM THIS MONTH WITH THE PEOPLE, PROSECUTORS PROVED HE HUNTED. NOW PROSECUTORS WILL HAVE TO PROVE HE SHOULD PAY FOR HIS CRIMES WITH HIS LIFE. WE DON’T KNOW WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE NEXT TWO SECTIONS OF THE TRIAL AND WHAT THE DEFENSE WILL ARGUE AND WHAT THE JURY WILL HEAR. AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO A FINAL JUST CONCLUSION AND A JUST PUNISHMENT FOR THE HORRIBLE, HORRENDOUS DEEDS DONE FOUR AND A HALF YEARS AGO. THE PENALTY PHASE IS GOING TO BE AN EMOTIONAL WHILE HEART WRENCHING, INDELIBLE MATTER THAT IS GOING TO HAVE THE EFFECT ON THE JURIES AND THOSE WHO LISTEN TO IT. LOCAL ATTORNEY BOB DELGRECO IS NOT ASSOCIATE WITH THE CASE IN ANY WAY, BUT LIKE SO MANY PEOPLE HE’S BEEN FOLLOWING IT CLOSELY, ANTICIPATING THE VERDICT AS A FOREGONE CONCLUSION. HE’S BEEN EAGERLY AWAITING THE PENALTY PHASE, DURING WHICH HE SAYS THE DEFENSE WILL TRY TO ESTABLISH MITIGATING FACTORS, WAS IN AN EFFORT TO SPARE THE DEFENDANTS LIFE. THIS COULD INCLUDE INTRODUCING EVIDENCE AND TESTIMONY THAT SPEAK TO ROBERT BOWERS LIFE, UPBRINGING AND MENTAL STATE. I WOULD TRY TO CALL SOMEONE TO HUMANIZE ROBERT BOWERS. I DON’T KNOW WHETHER THAT PERSON EXISTS. I DON’T KNOW WHETHER THERE IS A STORY WHICH MIGHT PUT A HUMAN FACE ON HIM. THE FACE THAT I’VE SEEN SO FAR HAS BEEN THIS HATRED FILLED, HARDENED HEART, INDIVIDUAL WITH STRONG RELIGIOUS ANIMUS WOULD BE AN AGGRAVATING FACTOR. DEL GRECO EXPECTS THE PROSECUTION TO SEIZE ON AS WELL AS THE EXTENT OF THE DAMAGE THE DEFENDANT INFLICTED THAT DAY. HE SAYS THOSE AGGRAVATING FACTORS MUST OUTWEIGH THE MITIGATING FACTORS. IF PROSECUTORS WANT TO SECURE A DEATH SENTENCE. I THINK THEY ARE PREPARED TO ARGUE AND PRESENT EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST THAT HE WAS, IN FACT RATIONAL, THAT THIS WAS A PLANNED, CALCULATED ATTACK DONE BY SOMEONE WHO WAS CLEAR ENOUGH THINKING IN ORDER TO EXECUTE IT. THE PENALTY PHASE WILL BE DIVIDED INTO TWO PARTS, AND WE’LL BEGIN MONDAY, JUNE 26TH. BUT IT’S IMPORTANT TO NOTE, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS THERE IS STILL CURRENTLY A MORATORIUM ON ALL FEDERAL EXECUTIONS. REPORTING OUTSIDE THE FEDERAL COURTHOUSE I
Robert Bowers found guilty in Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial
The 2018 attack killed 11 Jewish worshipers at the Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation building in Squirrel Hill.
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Updated: 11:36 PM EDT Jun 16, 2023
More than four years after 11 people were gunned down in a Pittsburgh synagogue, a conviction has been delivered in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.Robert Bowers, 50, of Baldwin, was found guilty of carrying out the Oct. 27, 2018 attack that killed 11 Jewish worshippers and injured others, including police, at the Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation building in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood. Two other congregations, New Light Congregation and Congregation Dor Hadash, were also observing Shabbat services in the building during the attack.Bowers was found guilty on all 63 counts, including hate crimes resulting in death and the obstruction of the free exercise of religion resulting in death. Counts 1-11 are capital offenses, meaning Bowers is now eligible for the death penalty. That sentencing phase is expected to begin on June 26.Jurors listened to testimony from survivors, police officers and others in the three-week trial. Prosecutors rested their case June 14. Bowers’ attorneys rested the same day without entering evidence or calling any one to testify.“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 about five hours over two days before reaching a verdict. Bowers, wearing a dark sweater and blue shirt, had little reaction, as has often been the case throughout the trial. Several survivors and relatives of the deceased victims’ were in the courtroom, bearing quiet witness. A few sniffles were heard in he gallery as the judge intoned “guilty” dozens of times.Bowers turned a sacred house of worship into a “hunting ground,” targeting his victims because of their religion, a prosecutor told jurors on Thursday. Reading the names of each of the 11 victims he killed, prosecutor Mary Hahn asked the jury to “hold this defendant accountable ... and hold him accountable for those who cannot testify.”Bowers, who was armed with an AR-15 rifle and other weapons, also shot and wounded seven, including five responding police officers.Prosecutors presented evidence of his deep-seated animosity toward Jews and immigrants. Over 11 days of testimony, jurors learned that Bowers 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.Survivors testified about the terror they felt that day, including a woman who recounted how she was shot in the arm and then realized her 97-year-old-mother had been shot and killed right next to her. Andrea Wedner, the trial’s last witness, told jurors she touched her mother’s lifeless body and cried out, “Mommy,” before SWAT officers led her to safety.Carole Zawatsky, CEO of the Tree of Life Congregation, said Friday she hoped the verdict would provide survivors and victims’ family members with “some level of comfort and helps to ease the pain, even if ever so slightly.”With Bowers’ guilt established, survivors and family members of the deceased victims are expected to tell the jury about the devastating impact of his crimes when the penalty phase begins.Bowers’ attorneys did not mount a defense at the guilt stage of the trial, signaling they will focus their efforts on trying to save his life. They plan to introduce evidence that Bowers has schizophrenia, epilepsy and brain impairments. Defense attorney Judy Clarke had also sought to raise questions about Bowers’ motive, suggesting to jurors that his rampage was not motivated by religious hatred but his delusional belief that Jews were committing genocide by helping refugees settle in the United States.The three congregations that shared the synagogue building — Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life — have spoken out against antisemitism and other forms of bigotry since the attack. The Tree of Life congregation also is working on a plan to overhaul the synagogue building — which still stands but has been closed since the shootings — by creating a complex that would house a sanctuary, museum, memorial and center for fighting antisemitism.The trial took place three years after President Joe Biden said during his 2020 campaign that he would work to end capital punishment at the federal level and in states that still use it. His attorney general, Merrick Garland, has temporarily paused executions to review policies and procedures. But federal prosecutors continue to vigorously work to uphold already-issued death sentences and, in some cases, to pursue the death penalty at trial for crimes that are eligible, as in Bowers’ case.
PITTSBURGH — More than four years after 11 people were gunned down in a Pittsburgh synagogue, a conviction has been delivered in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.
Robert Bowers, 50, of Baldwin, was found guilty of carrying out the Oct. 27, 2018 attack that killed 11 Jewish worshippers and injured others, including police, at the Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation building in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood. Two other congregations, New Light Congregation and Congregation Dor Hadash, were also observing Shabbat services in the building during the attack.
Bowers was found guilty on all 63 counts, including hate crimes resulting in death and the obstruction of the free exercise of religion resulting in death. Counts 1-11 are capital offenses, meaning Bowers is now eligible for the death penalty. That sentencing phase is expected to begin on June 26.
Jurors listened to testimony from survivors, police officers and others in the three-week trial. Prosecutors rested their case June 14. Bowers’ attorneys rested the same day without entering evidence or calling any one to testify.
“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 about five hours over two days before reaching a verdict. Bowers, wearing a dark sweater and blue shirt, had little reaction, as has often been the case throughout the trial. Several survivors and relatives of the deceased victims’ were in the courtroom, bearing quiet witness. A few sniffles were heard in he gallery as the judge intoned “guilty” dozens of times.
Bowers turned a sacred house of worship into a “hunting ground,” targeting his victims because of their religion, a prosecutor told jurors on Thursday. Reading the names of each of the 11 victims he killed, prosecutor Mary Hahn asked the jury to “hold this defendant accountable ... and hold him accountable for those who cannot testify.”
Bowers, who was armed with an AR-15 rifle and other weapons, also shot and wounded seven, including five responding police officers.
Prosecutors presented evidence of his deep-seated animosity toward Jews and immigrants. Over 11 days of testimony, jurors learned that Bowers 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.
Survivors testified about the terror they felt that day, including a woman who recounted how she was shot in the arm and then realized her 97-year-old-mother had been shot and killed right next to her. Andrea Wedner, the trial’s last witness, told jurors she touched her mother’s lifeless body and cried out, “Mommy,” before SWAT officers led her to safety.
Carole Zawatsky, CEO of the Tree of Life Congregation, said Friday she hoped the verdict would provide survivors and victims’ family members with “some level of comfort and helps to ease the pain, even if ever so slightly.”
With Bowers’ guilt established, survivors and family members of the deceased victims are expected to tell the jury about the devastating impact of his crimes when the penalty phase begins.
Bowers’ attorneys did not mount a defense at the guilt stage of the trial, signaling they will focus their efforts on trying to save his life. They plan to introduce evidence that Bowers has schizophrenia, epilepsy and brain impairments. Defense attorney Judy Clarke had also sought to raise questions about Bowers’ motive, suggesting to jurors that his rampage was not motivated by religious hatred but his delusional belief that Jews were committing genocide by helping refugees settle in the United States.
The three congregations that shared the synagogue building — Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life — have spoken out against antisemitism and other forms of bigotry since the attack. The Tree of Life congregation also is working on a plan to overhaul the synagogue building — which still stands but has been closed since the shootings — by creating a complex that would house a sanctuary, museum, memorial and center for fighting antisemitism.
The trial took place three years after President Joe Biden said during his 2020 campaign that he would work to end capital punishment at the federal level and in states that still use it. His attorney general, Merrick Garland, has temporarily paused executions to review policies and procedures. But federal prosecutors continue to vigorously work to uphold already-issued death sentences and, in some cases, to pursue the death penalty at trial for crimes that are eligible, as in Bowers’ case.
