Prosecutor Recounts Day Turned Deadly in a Pittsburgh Synagogue
The federal trial of the gunman who killed 11 worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue, the deadliest antisemitic attack in the nation’s history, began on Tuesday with a minute-by-minute description of how the massacre unfolded on a chilly October morning in 2018.
Soo C. Song, one of the lead prosecutors, began her opening statement by describing how each of the victims arrived at the synagogue on Oct. 27, “in the sanctuary and refuge of their holy place.” The 22 people at the synagogue that morning, half of whom would be killed, were from three different congregations: Tree of Life, New Light and Dor Hadash. Ms. Song described them greeting other worshipers at the door, chatting casually in the kitchen and sitting in the pews for prayer.
She then spoke of the defendant, Robert Bowers, describing his flurry of hate-filled postings on social media and how, at the same moment that the worshipers were gathering for services, he was “making his own preparations to destroy, to kill and to defile.”
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Mr. Bowers, 50. This stage of the trial will take place in two parts. The first, which began Tuesday, concerns guilt; if Mr. Bowers is found guilty, proceedings will follow to determine whether he receives a death sentence.
Source: The New York Times
