Robert Bowers — the white supremacist gunman who murdered 11 Jewish worshipers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018 — will receive the death penalty, a jury unanimously ruled on Wednesday.
The ruling came a month and a half after Bowers, 50, was found guilty of 63 federal hate crimes and civil rights offenses stemming from the massacre.
Bowers was to be formally sentenced to death by the judge in the case on Thursday, based on the jury’s decision.
Reacting to the news, the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) said in a statement, “In October 2018, Pittsburgh’s Jewish community was targeted in the most deadly act of antisemitic violence in American history, as 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life Synagogue were gunned down while they prayed on Shabbat. On Wednesday, a federal jury unanimously decided that the perpetrator will face the ultimate punishment for this horrific crime.”
“The trial and sentencing of Robert Bowers sends a resounding message that justice will always be served to those who commit unimaginable acts of hatred,” CAM noted. “We stand resolute in our mission to fight the bigotry and prejudice that drives such violence, and we will continue to work to build a world where peoples of all religions can practice their faiths without fear.”
On Wednesday, Robert Bowers, the white supremacist gunman who killed 11 Jewish worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, was unanimously sentenced to death by a federal jury.
May the memory of the victims forever be a source of strength as we continue to… pic.twitter.com/vAoVK8Ehnc
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) August 2, 2023
The victims of the attack included Joyce Fienberg, 75, Richard Gottfried, 65, Rose Mallinger, 97, Jerry Rabinowitz, 66, Cecil Rosenthal, 59, David Rosenthal, 54, Bernice Simon, 84, Sylvan Simon, 86, Dan Stein, 71, Melvin Wax, 88, and Irving Younger, 69.
