PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Police have identified the man who opened fire during Saturday services at a Pittsburgh synagogue. as Robert Bowers, 46. Bowers is a Pittsburgh resident, according to our sister station WPXI.
Eleven people were killed at Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill. Bowers was shot during a firefight with police, which left four officers shot.
Bowers was shot multiple times by police and is in fair condition at Allegheny General Hospital, Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said.
Law enforcement negotiated with Bowers while he was inside the building, sources said, and during those negotiations he was talking about his hatred for Jewish people. Bowers eventually surrendered.
Federal prosecutors have charged Bowers with 29 counts in deaths of 11 people including:
- Eleven counts of Obstruction of Exercise of Religious Beliefs Resulting in Death
- Eleven counts of Use of a Firearm to Commit Murder During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence
- Four counts of Obstruction of Exercise of Religious Beliefs Resulting in Bodily Injury to a Public Safety Officer
- Three counts of Use and Discharge of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence
U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said that 22 of the charges are punishable by death.
A social media profile for a man named Robert Bowers shows a feed full of anti-Semitic posts, including one from just hours before the shooting started.
“I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered,” Bowers wrote before he began shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue, as he singled out the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), a group which helps Jewish refugees enter the United States.
“HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people,” Bowers wrote on Saturday morning. “Screw your optics, I’m going in
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.
Back on October 10, Bowers also posted about HIAS, including a screen shot from the group’s website: “You like to bring in hostile invaders to dwell among us?” he wrote.
The social media site Gab.com says Bowers had a profile on their website, the Associated Press reported. The company says the account was verified after Saturday's shooting and matched the name of the gunman mentioned on police radio communications.
The profile was later removed.
Bowers also re-posted comments from others on Gab that expressed hatred towards Jews – one of those postings from the last week claimed that “Jews are waging a propaganda war against Western civilization,” concluding that ‘we are headed towards certain extinction in the next 200 years and we’re not even aware of it.’
Bowers joined others in focusing their ire recently on the refugee ‘caravan’ in southern Mexico, which is making its way slowly towards the United States border, alleging that Jewish groups like HIAS were using it to spearhead an ‘invasion.’
Gab said in a statement that it suspended the alleged gunman's account, backed up the content and notified the FBI, the Associated Press reported.
Gab says its mission is to defend free expression and individual liberty online for all people. The social media site is popular with far-right extremists.
Cox Media Group
