A jury imposed the death penalty on a man who spewed antisemitic hate before fatally shooting 11 worshippers at a synagogue in the heart of the Jewish community of Pittsburgh.
Robert Bowers, a truck driver now 50 years old, perpetrated the deadliest attack on Jews in US history on 27 October 2018. Entering the Tree of Life synagogue, he opened fire with an AR-15 rifle, shooting everyone he could find in a mass murder clearly motivated by religious hatred.
Bowers raved on social media about his hatred of Jewish people – using a slur for Jewish people some 400 times on a social media platform favored by the far right – and remains proud that he killed Jews.
“Do not be numb to it. Remember what it means. This defendant targeted people solely because of the faith that they chose,” Eric Olshan, US attorney for the western district of Pennsylvania, said during the court case.
In federal capital cases, a unanimous vote by jurors in a separate penalty phase is required to sentence a defendant to death. The judge cannot reject the jury’s vote. If jurors are unable to reach a unanimous decision, the offender is instead sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release.
On Wednesday, the same jury that convicted Bowers on 63 criminal counts recommended he be put to death. A judge was due to formally impose sentence later.
The family of 97-year-old Rose Mallinger, who was killed in the attack, and her daughter, Andrea Wedner, who was wounded, thanked the jurors, saying “a measure of justice has been served”.
“Returning a sentence of death is not a decision that comes easy, but we must hold accountable those who wish to commit such terrible acts of antisemitism, hate and violence,” the family said in a statement.
Victims’ families were divided on whether Bowers should be sentenced to death.
As described by the Death Penalty Information Center, “the New Light and Dor Hadash congregations, including Rabbi Jonathan Perlman, who was wounded in the attack, and Miri Rabinowitz, whose husband was killed, urged [US attorney general Merrick] Garland to forego the death penalty and instead seek a life sentence.”
On Wednesday a statement from Stephen Cohen and Barbara Caplan, co-presidents of New Light Congregation, which lost three members in Bowers’ attack, said: “Many of our members prefer that the shooter spend the rest of his life in prison, questioning whether we should seek vengeance or revenge against him or whether his death would ‘make up’ for the lost lives.”
But the congregation as a whole, Cohen and Caplan wrote, “agrees with the government’s position that no one may murder innocent individuals simply because of their religion … New Light Congregation accepts the jury’s decision and believes that, as a society, we need to take a stand that this act requires the ultimate penalty under the law.”
Bowers’ lead defense attorney, Judy Clarke, declined comment.
Attorneys for Bowers argued that he has schizophrenia, a serious brain disorder with symptoms including delusions and hallucinations, and that he attacked the synagogue out of a delusional belief that Jews were helping to bring about a genocide of white people by coming to the aid of refugees and immigrants. The defense also presented evidence of a difficult childhood.
Olshan disputed the diagnosis of schizophrenia, asserting Bowers was not suffering psychosis but had chosen to believe white supremacist rhetoric. Acknowledging there was no question Bowers had been a depressed, neglected child, Olshan downplayed its significance, noting Bowers held jobs, paid bills and was an otherwise functioning adult.
“He was not a child, he was a grown man. He was responsible for his actions, not his family and things that happened decades earlier. He was, he is responsible for his actions,” Olshan said.
Prosecutors presented witnesses and evidence to show Bowers carefully planned the attack and deliberately targeted vulnerable elderly worshippers.
Seven people were wounded, including five police officers. Bowers was shot three times before surrendering when he ran out of ammunition.
Under Donald Trump, the federal government restarted executions and oversaw a rush of cases, with 13 executions in his final months in the White House.
No federal death sentences have been carried out under Joe Biden, who said during his campaign he would end the practice but who has not taken steps to do so once in power.
