Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
| Pittsburgh synagogue shooting | |
|---|---|
People visit the memorials to victims of the mass shooting outside the Tree of Life synagogue on November 4, 2018
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| Location | Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation, 5898 Wilkins Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 40°26′37″N 79°55′17″W / 40.44361°N 79.92139°W |
| Date | October 27, 2018 9:54 – 11:08 a.m. (EDT) |
| Target | Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation |
Attack type | Mass shooting |
| Weapons |
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| Deaths | 11 |
| Injured | 7 (including the perpetrator) |
| Perpetrator | Robert Bowers |
| Motive | Antisemitism, Holocaust denial, belief in the white genocide conspiracy theory, White supremacy |
| Verdict | Federal: Guilty on all counts |
| Convictions | 63 federal criminal counts |
| Charges | 36 state criminal counts |
| Sentence | Federal: Death |
On October 27, 2018, a right-wing extremist attacked Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The congregation, along with New Light Congregation and Congregation Dor Hadash, which also worshipped in the building, was attacked during Shabbat morning services. The perpetrator killed eleven people and wounded six, in the deadliest attack on a local Jewish community in American history.
The perpetrator, 46-year-old Robert Gregory Bowers, was shot multiple times by police and arrested at the scene. Bowers had earlier posted antisemitic comments against HIAS (formerly, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) on the online alt-tech social network Gab. Dor Hadash had participated in HIAS's National Refugee Shabbat the previous week. Referring to Central American migrant caravans and immigrants, Bowers posted a message on Gab in which he wrote that "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." He was charged with 63 federal crimes, some of them capital crimes. Bowers pleaded not guilty. In 2023, he was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to death by lethal injection.