Pittsburgh Synagogue Attacker Gets Death Sentence

Facts

• 50-year-old Robert Bower — the man who shot and killed 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pa in October 2018 — was sentenced to death by a jury on Wednesday.¹
• The federal jury, which began deliberating Tuesday, is the same one that convicted Bowers in mid-June on 63 charges — including hate crimes resulting in death and obstruction of the free exercise of religion resulting in death.²
• The jury found that Bowers was motivated by his hatred of Jewish people, also noting that he chose to "maximize the devastation, amplify the harm of his crimes, and instill fear" by choosing the historically Jewish community surrounding Tree of Life.³
• Instead of contesting his guilt, Bowers' lawyers tried to avoid capital punishment by emphasizing evidence of a horrific childhood marked by trauma and neglect. They also claimed he suffered from untreated mental illness that led to a delusional belief that Jews were part of a plan to genocide White people.⁴
• Referring to Bowers' history of posting anti-Semitic tropes on social media, US attorney for the western district of Pennsylvania, Eric Olshan, said: "Do not be numb to it. Remember what it means. This defendant targeted people solely because of the faith that they chose."¹
• To impose the death penalty, jurors must find that aggravating circumstances outweighed mitigating factors. These factors may have included the vulnerability of Bowers' elderly and vulnerable victims and his deliberate targeting of Jewish people.¹

Sources: ¹Guardian, ²FOX News, ³Al Jazeera, and ⁴New York Post.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Forward. Bowers committed the ultimate evil when he attacked the Pittsburgh synagogue, which is why the death penalty is the one and only punishment he deserves. There are no ethical or religious reasons to spare the perpetrator's life after such a terrible act.
• Narrative B, as provided by Jerusalem Post. The death penalty is ineffective and inhumane no matter the crime committed. Instead of killing Bowers, the government has a responsibility to educate and rehabilitate him. Dialogue is the better and more just course of action — anti semitism should be tackled with education.