Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter Sentenced to Death in Landmark Case
The perpetrator of the deadliest antisemitic act in US history will be sentenced to death, a jury decided Wednesday.
In 2018, Robert Bowers killed 11 worshippers and wounded six others at the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue, including members from the two other congregations who shared the space, Dor Hadash and New Light. Before the attack, Bowers espoused antisemitic hate and white supremacist beliefs on social media, and the jury found that he did not express remorse for his actions. He told police at the scene of the crime that “all these Jews need to die,” according to testimony.
Bower’s sentencing marks the first federal death sentence imposed during Joe Biden’s presidency. In July 2021, the Justice Department placed a moratorium on federal executions with no timetable while the department conducts a review of its policies and procedures.
The sentencing was delivered on Wednesday, overlapping with the Jewish “day of love,” Tu B’Av.
“I don’t believe in coincidences. Today we received an immense embrace from the halls of justice,” attack survivor Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life Congregation said.
Bowers was found guilty on 63 charges by the same jury in June, including dozens of hate crimes and civil rights offenses. In deciding whether he should receive the death penalty, the jury rejected the prosecution’s argument that Bowers was incapable of forming a true intent to kill due to his mental health history of schizophrenia and brain abnormalities.
The deceased victims were Rose Mallinger, 97; Joyce Fienberg, 75; Richard Gottfried, 65; Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz, 66; brothers David Rosenthal, 54, and Cecil Rosenthal, 59; Bernice Simon, 84, and her husband, Sylvan Simon, 86; Dan Stein, 71; Melvin Wax, 87; and Irving Younger, 69.
The Anti-Defamation League found a 36% increase in antisemitic incidents from 2021 to 2021, according to their annual audit, indicating a rise in antisemitism in the United States.
