Gunman who massacred 11 people in America's worst antisemitic attack given death penalty
2 August 2023, 18:02
A gunman who killed 11 people at a synagogue in the worst antisemitic attack in US history has been sentenced to death.
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Robert Bowers, a 50-year-old truck driver, also wounded five officers and two others when he burst into the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and started firing with an assault rifle in 2018.
A jury found him guilty of the attack in June and has now voted unanimously for him to be given the death penalty, after prosecutors requested they approve his execution.
Bower's victims, aged between 54 and 97, were among the three congregations that used the synagogue - the Tree of Life, Dor Hadash and New Light. Members of Dor Hadash has opposed the death penalty.
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who survived the assault, said: "It was a challenge to move forward with the looming spectre of a murder trial.
"Now that the trial is nearly over and the jury has recommended a death sentence, it is my hope that we can begin to heal and move forward."
Read more: Gunman who killed 11 people in US synagogue attack found guilty on 63 charges
Bowers was convicted of 63 counts including hate crimes, with jurors hearing he targeted the worshippers because of their religion.
The prosecution told his trial the synagogue had been turned into a "hunting ground" during the attack.
Bowers told police "all these Jews must die". He put antisemitic posts on a far-right website months before the attack in October 2018.
Some of the most harrowing testimony from the trial came from Andrea Wedner, who said she was hit in the arm then saw her mother had been killed at her side.
She shouted "Mommy" as she touched her body before police got her to safety.
Prosecutors hoped jurors would approve a death sentence because he continued to show a hatred of Jews and showed no remorse for the killings.
US attorney Eric Olshan called for "the most severe punishment under law - the death penalty".
Bowers' defence had argued he suffers from mental illness, including schizophrenia, and that contributed to him holding delusional beliefs about Jews.
