A Pennsylvania truck driver was found guilty Friday of gunning down 11 Jewish worshippers in Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 and wounding seven more people — five of them police officers — before police shot him and ended the rampage.
The jury in the federal trial deliberated for five hours over two days before returning guilty verdicts on all 63 counts faced by 50-year-old Robert Bowers, WTAE reported. The charges included multiple hate crimes and obstructing the free exercise of religion resulting in death. Eleven of the counts were capitol offenses, meaning Bowers now faces the death penalty when the sentencing phase of the trial begins on June 26.
Bowers’ defense — which presented no case in the guilt phase — has signaled its intent to focus its efforts on saving his life. They plan to introduce evidence that it was mental illness and not religious hatred that led to the attack, along with a delusional belief that Jews were committing genocide against white Americans by helping refugees settle in the United States.
As CrimeOnline reported, Bowers entered the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood on October 27, 2018, as Shabbat services were being held. He screamed, “All Jews must die!” and opened fire on the L’Simcha Congregation. Two other congregations — New Light and Dor Hadash — were also holding Shabbat services in the building at the time.
Prosecutors present evidence of Bowers’ hatred of Jews during the three-week trial, detailing his lengthy posts and shares of antisemitic and white supremacist content and the social media platform Gab and his praise of Hitler and the Holocaust. He also told police that “all these Jews need to die,” prosecutors said.
Jurors also heard testimony from survivors of the massacre and relatives of victims.
Bowers, said prosecutor Mary Hahn on Thursday, turned a house of worship into a “hunting ground.” She asked the jury to “hold this defendant accountable … and hold him accountable for those who cannot testify.”
Tree of Life’s rabbi, Jeffrey Myers, said in a written statement after the verdict that he is “grateful to God for getting us to this day.”
“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,” he wrote.
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[Featured image: Left, Robert Bowers/Pennsylvania Department of Transportation via AP, File and Kris Kepler at a commemoration ceremony on October 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)]
