A federal jury has convicted Robert Bowers, the gunman who killed 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, on all 63 charges against him. The charges included 11 capital counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death and 11 capital counts of use of a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a crime of violence, among other charges.
The mass attack is the deadliest ever on Jewish people in the U.S.
Bowers, 50, faces the possibility of a death sentence, CNN reported. The decision will be decided by the same jury that found him guilty.
He was also convicted of 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death. His convictions now move to a separate penalty phase, with the jury looking at further evidence to decide if he will get the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
That phase is scheduled to begin on June 26.
Six people were wounded in the attack, including four responding police officers. On Friday, after an hour of deliberation, the jurors returned to the courtroom to ask the court for instructions on the meaning of “intention to kill” on counts 40 to 47, which involved those six wounded victims.
Judge Robert Colville instructed the panel to review his initial instructions, in which he said “intention to kill’ remains up to jurors of whether or not Bowers acted on intent with respect to evidence.
Jurors later returned to the courtroom to announce their verdict.
Bowers’ defense admitted Bowers carried out the massacre. His attorney, Elisa Long, argued he did so because of his hatred for immigrants and the nonprofit Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society but not hatred for Jews.
“Stopping religious study was not his intent or motive,” Long added.
However, prosecuting attorney Eric Olshan countered Long’s defense.
“These weren’t people who were engaging in refugee assistance,” Olshan said. “These were people trying to practice their faith.”
Prosecutors built their case against Bowers with the help of 60 witnesses who testified that Bowers executed the attack because of his hatred for Jewish people, citing a series of antisemitic comments before, during, and after the mass shooting, online and in person.
One of those witnesses was Andrea Wedner. She was shot in the arm and survived by playing dead next to her dying 97-year-old mother. In her emotional testimony, she described the moment she said goodbye to her mother, Rose Mallinger.
“I kissed my fingers, and I touched my fingers to her skin. I cried out, ‘Mommy,’” she said.
Witnesses included survivors of the attack, law enforcement officers who engaged in a shootout with the gunman, and medical, firearms, and computer experts.
“The defendant was caught at the synagogue with the murder weapon, so we know he is the shooter,” prosecutor Mary Hahn said in closing arguments. “He outright told SWAT operators he went to the synagogue to kill Jews.”
On October 27, 2018, Bowers stormed into the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood and killed 11 people, and wounded six others. The shooting unfolded on a day when the synagogue was hosting three congregations, Tree of Life, Dor Hadash, and New Light, for weekly Shabbat services.
Bowers arrived at the synagogue with three handguns and an AR-15 rifle and started firing near the entrance of the synagogue and then opened fire on congregants, authorities say.
Police eventually shot Bowers multiple times before he was arrested.
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