Gunman in Pittsburgh synagogue bloodbath harbored ‘malice and hate’ for Jews, prosecutor says

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Prosecutors on Tuesday described how a closely armed suspect barged right into a Pittsburgh synagogue and shot each worshipper he may discover within the deadliest antisemitic assault in U.S. historical past.

Robert Bowers’ federal trial bought underway greater than 4 years after the capturing deaths of 11 worshippers on the Tree of Life synagogue.

Twelve jurors and 6 alternates — chosen Thursday after greater than 200 candidates had been questioned over a month — are listening to the case. They embrace 11 ladies and 7 males.

“The depths of the defendant’s malice and hate can only be proven in the broken bodies” of the victims and “his hateful words,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song mentioned throughout her opening assertion.

Some of the survivors dabbed tears, whereas Bowers, seated on the protection desk, confirmed no response.

The protection was anticipated to current its opening assertion earlier than the prosecution started calling witnesses.

Bowers, 50, may face the demise penalty if convicted of among the 63 counts he faces within the Oct. 27, 2018, assault, which claimed the lives of worshippers from three congregations who had been sharing the constructing, Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life. Charges embrace 11 counts every of obstruction of free train of faith leading to demise and hate crimes leading to demise.

Members of the three congregations arrived on the courthouse in a faculty bus and entered collectively.

Prosecutors have mentioned Bowers made antisemitic feedback on the scene of the assault and on-line.

In proceedings earlier than and through juror questioning, the protection has finished little to forged doubt on whether or not Bowers was the gunman and has as an alternative targeted on stopping his execution.

Bowers, a truck driver from the Pittsburgh suburb of Baldwin, had provided to plead responsible in return for a life sentence, however federal prosecutors turned him down. Bowers’ attorneys additionally not too long ago mentioned he has schizophrenia and mind impairments.

As a sign that the guilt-or-innocence section of the trial appears virtually a foregone conclusion, Bowers’ legal professionals spent little time throughout jury choice asking how potential jurors would come to a verdict.

Instead, they targeted on the penalty section and the way jurors would resolve whether or not to impose the demise penalty in a case of a person charged with hate-motivated killings in a home of worship. The protection probed whether or not potential jurors may think about components equivalent to psychological sickness or a tough childhood.

The households of these killed are divided over whether or not the federal government ought to pursue the demise penalty, however most have voiced assist for it.

The trial is happening within the downtown Pittsburgh courthouse of the U.S. District Court for Western Pennsylvania, presided over by Judge Robert Colville, an appointee of former President Donald Trump.

Prosecutors are anticipated to inform jurors about incriminatory statements Bowers allegedly made to investigators, a web based path of antisemitic statements that they are saying exhibits the assault was motivated by spiritual hatred, and the weapons recovered from him on the crime scene, the place police shot Bowers 3 times earlier than he surrendered.

They indicated in courtroom filings that they could introduce post-mortem information and 911 recordings through the trial, together with recordings of two calls from victims who had been subsequently shot to demise. They have mentioned their proof features a Colt AR-15 rifle, three Glock .357 handguns and lots of of cartridge instances, bullets and bullet fragments.

Bowers additionally injured seven individuals, together with 5 law enforcement officials who responded to the scene, investigators mentioned.

In a submitting earlier this 12 months, prosecutors mentioned Bowers “harbored deep, murderous animosity towards all Jewish people.” They mentioned he additionally expressed hatred for HIAS, based because the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, a nonprofit humanitarian group that helps refugees and asylum seekers.

Prosecutors wrote in a courtroom submitting that Bowers had almost 400 followers on his Gab social media account “to whom he promoted his antisemitic views and calls to violence against Jews.”

The three congregations have spoken out towards antisemitism and different types of bigotry for the reason that assault. The Tree of Life congregation is also working with companions on plans to overtake its present construction, which nonetheless stands however has been closed for the reason that shootings, by creating a posh that may home a sanctuary, museum, memorial and middle for combating antisemitism.

The demise penalty trial is continuing three years after now-President Joe Biden mentioned throughout his 2020 marketing campaign that he would work to finish capital punishment on the federal stage and in states that also use it. His legal professional normal, Merrick Garland, has briefly paused executions to assessment insurance policies and procedures, however federal prosecutors proceed to vigorously work to uphold demise sentences which have been issued and, in some instances, to pursue new demise sentences at trial.

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