The gunman who shot and killed eleven worshippers at the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue in 2018 was sentenced to death Wednesday after being found guilty on 63 criminal counts in June.
A federal jury unanimously reached the death-sentence verdict for Robert Bowers, now 50 years old, after deliberating for about ten hours over two days. A judge will officially hand down the sentence at a later date. Bowers faced charges that included obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death, use of a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a crime of violence, and hate crimes resulting in death.
The verdict came after a three-week trial in which jurors heard testimony from survivors, police officers, and others. During the trial, prosecutors alleged that Bowers intentionally targeted Jewish people out of hatred.
“Once he entered the synagogue the defendant began to hunt, he moved from room to room, upstairs and downstairs … looking for Jewish worshippers to kill,” prosecutor Soo C. Song said.
Bowers had posted hateful things about immigrants and Jewish people on the social media site Gab for weeks before he went on the shooting spree. He wrote that “Jews are a cancer on the planet, Jews are evil creatures, Jews are pedophiles,” prosecutors said. Bowers made antisemitic comments during the shooting and said he wanted to “kill Jews” while receiving medical treatment, according to the indictment.
In 2019, it was announced that federal prosecutors would seek the death penalty for Bowers. He pled not guilty to the crimes he was accused of. During his rampage, he used several weapons, including an AR-15 rifle. He shot through a large window near the entrance of the building before opening fire on worshippers. Police shot Bowers multiple times before he surrendered and was taken into custody.
The massacre was the most fatal attack on Jews in the U.S. in the country’s history. In addition to leaving eleven people dead, the shooting left six wounded, including four responding police officers. The synagogue was hosting three congregations for weekly Shabbat services at the time.
A press conference with families of the victims and survivors of the tragedy, as well as first responders involved in the effort to apprehend the killer, will be held Wednesday afternoon.