PITTSBURGH — The man who killed 11 congregants in a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 was formally sentenced to death on Thursday, a day after a jury found that capital punishment was appropriate for the perpetrator of the deadliest attack on Jews in US history.
US District Judge Robert Colville sentenced Robert Bowersa 50-year-old trucker whose violent anti-Semitism led him to shoot his way into a place of worship and attack people for practicing their faith.
“I don’t have anything specific that I want to say to Mr. Bowers,” Colville said before issuing the formal sentence. “However, I am convinced that there is nothing I can tell you that could be significant.”
The defendant, who changed from the casual civilian clothes he wore during the trial to a red prison suit, chose not to speak. He spent the entire hearing looking through papers and writings, refusing to look those he victimized in the eye.
Bowers railed against Jews online before carrying out the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue on October 27, 2018, telling police at the scene that “all these Jews must die.” Since then he has expressed his pride in the murders.
The jury was unanimous in finding that Bowers’ attack was motivated by his hatred of Jews, and that he chose Tree of Life Synagogue for its location in one of the nation’s largest and most historic Jewish communities in order to “maximize the devastation , amplify the damage of their crimes, and instill fear in local, national, and international Jewish communities.” They also concluded that Bowers felt no remorse.
The jury rejected defense claims that Bowers has schizophrenia and that the attack was prompted by his delusions about the Jewish people.
This is the first federal death sentence imposed during the presidency of Joe Biden, who pledged during his 2020 campaign to end capital punishment. The Justice Department has placed a moratorium on federal executions and has refused to authorize the death penalty in hundreds of new cases where it could be applied. But federal prosecutors said death was the appropriate punishment for Bowers, citing the vulnerability of his victims, mostly elderly, and his attack on a religious community based on bigotry.
FOUNTAIN: PA
