Terrorist attack at synagogue: shooter shouts "All Jews must die!"

[The Romulan Republic]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/pittsburg ... -1.4881234

[The head of Pittsburgh's public safety department says Saturday's shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue will be investigated by the FBI as a "hate crime."

Wendell Hissrich also said the suspect in the shooting is in custody and was taken to hospital.

The gunman killed 11 people and injured at least six, including four police officers, in an attack during Sabbath religious services, authorities said.

A law enforcement official has identified the suspect as 46-year-old Robert Bowers. FBI spokesperson Bob Jones said authorities believe the gunman was acting alone. He was not previously known to law enforcement.

"This is the most horrific crime scene I have seen in 22 years of police work," Jones said. "They were brutally murdered simply because of their faith."

Pennsylvania's Attorney General Josh Shaprio said the shooter "claimed innocent lives - and injured first responders - at a baby naming."

The synagogue is located at the intersection of Wilkins and Shady avenues. The tree-lined residential neighbourhood of Squirrel Hill, about 10 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh, is the hub of Pittsburgh's Jewish community.

The gunman shouted "All Jews must die" when he stormed the synagogue, local media and authorities said.

The local Jewish community was shocked by the attack. "Growing up ... you hear about the Holocaust and you hear stories about other places, but you can't imagine it would ever happen in your neighbourhood," Drew Barkley, executive director of Temple Sinai, another Pittsburgh synagogue told CBC News.

"It's shocking ... We don't know why anit- Semitism exists the way it does ... It's such an ancient hatred."/quote]

The article goes on, and I'll quote a couple of relevant passages:'

First, Trump appeared to repeat his "Both Sides" rhetoric and suggested that more guns were the solution:

Speaking to reporters at Andrews Air Force Base before travelling to Indianapolis, President Donald Trump said, "It's a terrible thing what's going on with hate in our country" and that the violence "has to stop."

Trump also said the outcome might have been different if the synagogue "had some kind of protection" from an armed guard and suggested that might be a good idea for all churches and synagogues.

The NYPD appears to be taking him up on that...

In New York, the NYPD tweeted that it was "deploying heavy weapons teams" and officers to "houses of worship" as a precaution.

You know what? I'm with Trump on this one. Religious minorities, and political dissidents, probably do need to guns for personal defence in Trump's America.

[The Romulan Republic]

Apologies for screwing up the quotes.

[The Romulan Republic]

It's now reportedly the worst attack on Jews in America's history, with 11 dead and 6 wounded (with 4 of the wounded being police officers who responded to the attack).

[U.P. Cinnabar]

But, he was a dirty lib too. Cause Nazis are socialists. And Socialist is in their name. [/sarcasm]

Oy, vey.

[LadyTevar]

Thankfully, none of my Scadian friends were at the Synagogue that day, nor were any of their relatives hurt.

[The Romulan Republic]

But, he was a dirty lib too. Cause Nazis are socialists. And Socialist is in their name. [/sarcasm]

Oy, vey.

In much the same way as North Korea is a democracy, because it calls itself the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

But apparently the shooter didn't like Trump, because he had too many Jews (ie Jared and Ivanka) around him.

So, we finally found someone for whom Donald Trump isn't awful enough.

[Zaune]

So, we finally found someone for whom Donald Trump isn't awful enough.

Okay, I'm hitting up Etsy for that "Chatoyance Was Right" t-shirt.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

But, he was a dirty lib too. Cause Nazis are socialists. And Socialist is in their name. [/sarcasm]

Oy, vey.

In much the same way as North Korea is a democracy, because it calls itself the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Don't give the Trumpanzees any ideas, Rom.

So, we finally found someone for whom Donald Trump isn't awful enough.

Scary, ain't it?

[EnterpriseSovereign]

While officially Pennsylvania has the death penalty, I discovered this titbit:

On February 13, 2015, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced a moratorium on the death penalty. Wolf will issue a reprieve for every execution until a commission on capital punishment, which was established in 2011 by the Pennsylvania State Senate, produces a recommendation. Effectively there was a moratorium in place, as the state had not executed anyone since Gary M. Heidnik in 1999.

Assuming he doesn't die from his injuries, Bowers will probably end up on death row but won't actually be executed.

[The Romulan Republic]

A letter from Jewish leaders in Pittsburgh to Trump:

Bend The Arc Bend The Arc: Pittsburgh
We are the Pittsburgh affiliate of Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice.

Website
President Trump:

Yesterday, a gunman slaughtered 11 Americans during Shabbat morning services. We mourn with the victims’ families and pray for the wounded. Here in Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood, we express gratitude for the first responders and for the outpouring of support from our neighbors near and far. We are committed to healing as a community while we recommit ourselves to repairing our nation.

For the past three years your words and your policies have emboldened a growing white nationalist movement. You yourself called the murderer evil, but yesterday’s violence is the direct culmination of your influence.

President Trump, you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you fully denounce white nationalism.

Our Jewish community is not the only group you have targeted. You have also deliberately undermined the safety of people of color, Muslims, LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities. Yesterday’s massacre is not the first act of terror you incited against a minority group in our country.

President Trump, you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you stop targeting and endangering all minorities.

The murderer’s last public statement invoked the compassionate work of the Jewish refugee service HIAS at the end of a week in which you spread lies and sowed fear about migrant families in Central America. He killed Jews in order to undermine the efforts of all those who find shared humanity with immigrants and refugees.

President Trump, you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you cease your assault on immigrants and refugees.

The Torah teaches that every human being is made b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God.

This means all of us.

In our neighbors, Americans, and people worldwide who have reached out to give our community strength, there we find the image of God. While we cannot speak for all Pittsburghers, or even all Jewish Pittsburghers, we know we speak for a diverse and unified group when we say:

President Trump, you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you commit yourself to compassionate, democratic policies that recognize the dignity of all of us.



Bend the Arc: Pittsburgh

Jamie Forrest

Joshua Friedman

Jamie Harris

Tammy Hepps

Harry Hochheiser

Sasha King

Jonathan Mayo

Elinor S. Nathanson

Avigail S. Oren

Kate Rothstein

Yael Silk



Add your name to the demands from Pittsburgh Jewish leaders to Trump and the Republican Party after the Tree of Life massacre. Join us in sending a clear message that attacks like the massacre at Tree of Life can never happen again — not to Jews or to anyone else.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

I guess he's going to say "fuck Pittsburgh, It's a dump anyway," and go on a Twitter tantrum.

[Broomstick]

You know what? I'm with Trump on this one. Religious minorities, and political dissidents, probably do need to guns for personal defence in Trump's America.

Every event at the synagogues in my county have a police officer on guard at the door. Every Jewish picnic and summer day camp for kids has an assigned police officer. You can't get into the buildings (synagogues, Jewish Federation) without being seen on a security camera and buzzed in. The daycare and Sunday school (for religious education of the kids going to secular schools) have regular armed shooter drills. Plenty of the Jews I know are licensed gun owners and carry.

This is nothing new to the community.

The problem is that if you encourage enough crazies and hate sooner or later one of them is going to get through. Turning the world into an armed camp is not how you stop violence. But, of course, eliminating the causes and doing the hard work of changing the environment leading to this sort of thing is "too hard" (meaning, depending on who's talking, too expensive, takes too long, might require them to change their behavior, or doesn't serve the selfish self-interest of the speaker).

[The Romulan Republic]

The House Majority Leader, Kevin McCarthy (R-Russia) decided that now was a good time to post (and then quickly delete, because like all bigots he's a coward) a tweet accusing three prominent Jewish billionaires, Soros, Bloomber, and Steyer, of trying to "buy" the election:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/28/politics ... index.html

He has to know how this tweet will be interpreted by the white supremacists and neo-Nazis. I cannot imagine that singling out three wealthy Jews, at this time, was an accident.

As far as I am concerned, the Speaker of the House of the United States is tacitly indicating sympathy with the shooting, and is inciting murder and terrorism.

Edit: Correction, he posted it before the shooting. In which case, he may be partly responsible for inspiring it.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Majority Leader, not Speaker, though the current Speaker is just as bad.

[The Romulan Republic]

Majority Leader, not Speaker, though the current Speaker is just as bad.

Yeah, sorry. I mixed up Majority Leader and Speaker somehow. Blame sleep deprivation.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

I understand sleep deprivation. Is all good.