PITTSBURGH (AP) \u2014 A gunman who\u2019s believed to have spewed anti-Semitic slurs and rhetoric on social media barged into a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday and opened fire, killing 11 people in one of the deadliest attacks on Jews in U.S. history.<\/p>\n
The 20-minute attack at Tree of Life Congregation in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood left six others wounded, including four police officers who dashed to the scene, authorities said.<\/p>\n
The suspect, Robert Bowers, traded gunfire with police and was shot several times. Bowers, who was in fair condition at a hospital, was charged late Saturday with 29 federal counts, including hate crimes and weapons offenses. It wasn\u2019t immediately known if Bowers had an attorney to speak on his behalf.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease know that justice in this case will be swift and it will be severe,\u201d Scott Brady, the chief federal prosecutor in western Pennsylvania, said at a news conference, characterizing the slaughter as a \u201cterrible and unspeakable act of hate.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mass shooting came amid a rash of high-profile attacks in an increasingly divided country, one day after a Florida man was arrested and charged with mailing a series of pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and little more than a week before the midterm elections.<\/p>\n
The killings also immediately reignited the longstanding national debate about guns: President Donald Trump said the outcome might have been different if the synagogue \u201chad some kind of protection\u201d from an armed guard, while Pennsylvania\u2019s Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf noted that once again \u201cdangerous weapons are putting our citizens in harm\u2019s way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump ordered flags at federal buildings throughout the U.S. to be flown at half-staff in \u201csolemn respect\u201d for the shooting victims. He said he planned to travel to Pittsburgh, but offered no details.<\/p>\n
Authorities say that just before 10 a.m., Bower entered the large synagogue with an assault-style rifle and three handguns. Three separate congregations were conducting Sabbath services in different areas of the large building, according to Michael Eisenberg, the immediate past president of the Tree of Life. The Pennsylvania attorney general\u2019s office said it was told by victims that a brit milah \u2014 a ritual circumcision ceremony at which a baby boy also receives his Hebrew name \u2014 was also taking place, though law enforcement officials later said no children were among the dead or wounded.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a very horrific crime scene,\u201d said a visibly moved Wendell Hissrich, the Pittsburgh public safety director. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the worst that I\u2019ve seen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The survivors included Daniel Leger, 70, a nurse and hospital chaplain who was in critical condition after undergoing surgery, his brother, Paul Leger, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Daniel Leger was scheduled to lead a service Saturday morning, he said.<\/p>\n
The mass shooting raised immediate alarm in Jewish communities around the country. Authorities in New York City, Chicago and elsewhere increased security at Jewish centers.<\/p>\n
Bob Jones, head of the FBI\u2019s Pittsburgh office, said that worshippers \u201cwere brutally murdered by a gunman targeting them simply because of their faith,\u201d though he cautioned the shooter\u2019s full motive was not yet known.<\/p>\n
Bowers, who had no apparent criminal record, expressed virulently anti-Semitic views on a social media site called Gab, according to an Associated Press review of an archived version of the posts made under his name. The cover photo for his account featured a neo-Nazi symbol, and his recent posts included a photo of a fiery oven like those used in Nazi concentration camps used to cremate Jews during World War II.<\/p>\n
Other posts referenced false conspiracy theories suggesting the Holocaust \u2014 in which an estimated 6 million Jews perished \u2014 was a hoax. He wrote of a Jewish \u201cinfestation,\u201d using a slur for Jews.<\/p>\n
Gab confirmed Bowers had a profile on its website, which is popular with far-right extremists.<\/p>\n
Before the shooting, the poster believed to be Bowers also wrote that \u201cHIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can\u2019t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I\u2019m going in.\u201d<\/p>\n
HIAS is a nonprofit group that helps refugees around the world find safety and freedom. The organization says it is guided by Jewish values and history.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive officer of the Anti-Defamation League, said the group believes Saturday\u2019s attack was the deadliest on the Jewish community in U.S. history.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur hearts break for the families of those killed and injured at the Tree of Life Synagogue, and for the entire Jewish community of Pittsburgh,\u201d Greenblatt said.<\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was \u201cheartbroken and appalled\u201d by the attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe entire people of Israel grieve with the families of the dead,\u201d Netanyahu said. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thousands of people, some holding candles, gathered for a vigil in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood on Saturday night in honor of the victims, whose names were not immediately released. A chant of \u201cvote, vote, vote\u201d broke out during the emotional gathering. Some attendees blamed the shooting on the nation\u2019s political climate, and said they took little solace in the planned visit by Trump.<\/p>\n
At a political rally in Murphysboro, Illinois, Trump said \u201cthe evil anti-Semitic attack is an assault on all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The president \u2014 who, at times, has been accused by critics of failing to adequately condemn hate, such as when he blamed \u201cboth sides\u201d for the violence at a Charlottesville, Virginia, white supremacist rally in 2017 \u2014 said that anti-Semitism must be \u201cconfronted and condemned everywhere it rears it very ugly head.\u201d He called for the imposition of the death penalty for \u201ccrimes like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The synagogue is located in the tree-lined residential neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, about 10 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh and the hub of Pittsburgh\u2019s Jewish community. The facade of the fortress-like concrete building is punctuated by rows of swirling, modernistic stained-glass windows illustrating the story of creation, the acceptance of God\u2019s law, the \u201clife cycle\u201d and \u201chow human-beings should care for the earth and one another,\u201d according to its website. Among its treasures is a \u201cHolocaust Torah,\u201d rescued from Czechoslovakia.<\/p>\n
Its sanctuary can hold up to 1,250 people.<\/p>\n
Eisenberg, the former synagogue president, said officials at Tree of Life had not gotten any threats that he knew of before the shooting. But he said security was a concern, and the synagogue had started working to improve it.<\/p>\n
Chuck Diamond, a former rabbi at the synagogue who retired more than a year ago, said the building is locked during the week, and is outfitted with security cameras. \u201cBut on Sabbath it\u2019s an open door,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, you\u2019re always worried that something would happen,\u201d said Myron Snider, head of the cemetery committee for New Light Congregation, which meets at Tree of Life. Snider just got out of the hospital on Thursday and missed Saturday\u2019s service.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you never dream that it would happen like this,\u201d Snider added. \u201cJust never ever dream that it would happen like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and Michael Balsamo in Washington, Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia, Gene Puskar in Pittsburgh, Marc Levy in Harrisburg and Allen G. Breed in Raleigh, N.C., and Michael Kunzelman in Silver Spring, Maryland, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
For AP\u2019s complete coverage of the Pittsburgh synagogue shootings: https:\/\/www.apnews.com\/Shootings<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PITTSBURGH (AP) \u2014 A gunman who\u2019s believed to have spewed anti-Semitic slurs and rhetoric on social media barged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[13197,31,27155,61772,20743,7725,40,28,73,75,74,17220,12441,6803,44],"class_list":["post-251717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-ap-top-news","tag-crime","tag-hate-crimes","tag-massacres","tag-middle-east","tag-north-america","tag-pa-state-wire","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-race-and-ethnicity","tag-religion","tag-shootings","tag-u-s-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}