A disturbed gunman, armed with an AR-15 style rifle and other handguns, yelled “all Jews must die” as he entered the Tree of Life Congregation Synagogue in Pittsburgh, where he fatally shot multiple people in an anti-Semitic massacre this morning.
There were close to 100 people inside of the synagogue at the time of the attack. Robert Bowers, a 46-year-old resident of Pittsburgh, was arrested at the scene.
As many as 12 people were shot, including four police officers. Eight people have died with one officer in critical condition.
An hour before the shooting, Bowers wrote on a social media site, Gab, “HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics. I’m going in.” HIAS is the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, a group that helps refugees.
Gab is popular with white supremacists, white nationalists, and members of alt-right groups.
Bowers bio on the site read “jews are the children of satan.” He had a long history of anti-Semitic social media posts.
In another post from two days ago, Bowers wrote that President Trump is “a globalist, not a nationalist.” It also made reference to the so-called “Qanon” conspiracy.
“There is no #MAGA as long as there is a kike infestation,” he added.
Trump condemned Bowers, calling him a “wacko” and saying he should get the death penalty.
“Anyone who does a thing like this to innocent people … they should really pay the ultimate price,” Trump told reporters before departing for a rally in Illinois.
Trump lamented the “terrible, terrible things going on with hate” and suggested that armed guards could have prevented such a shooting.
“This is a case where if they had an armed guard inside they would have been able to stop him immediately,” he said.
When asked if all places of prayer should have guards, Trump said, “I hate to think of it that way … it’s certainly an option, this is a world with a lot of problems.”
The shooting happened one day after the FBI arrested Trump supporter, Cesar Sayoc, for mailing 12 crude explosive devices to a host of Democrats and other prominent figures who have been among Trump’s most vocal detractors.
The packages — virtually identical in plain manila envelopes — have been addressed to former President Barack Obama; former Vice President Joe Biden; former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Representative Maxine Waters of California; former Attorney General Eric Holder; John Brennan, a former C.I.A. director, the actor Robert De Niro; and George Soros, the billionaire Democratic donor.