Pittsburgh synagogue assailant convicted in deadliest antisemitic attack in US history

A jury on Friday found an American man guilty of claiming the lives of 11 Jewish worshippers at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue in the year 2018, in what is deemed the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in the history of the United States, reported local media.

Robert Bowers was convicted of opening fire inside the synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 27, 2018.

Federal prosecutors charged Bowers with 63 counts, which also included 11 counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death. The jury found him guilty on all counts, a spokesperson for the US Attorney's office in Pittsburgh confirmed, as cited by news agency Reuters.

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Jurors, during his trial, heard testimony from the survivors of the attack. The evidence of Bowers' antisemitism included several posts that he made against Jews on a far-right website in the months leading to the attack.

The jury will now decide if Bowers should receive the death penalty for the shooting rampage.

In the sentencing phase, prosecutors will try to showcase that exacerbating factors were involved, making a case that Bowers carefully plotted the attack and that he targeted vulnerable victims. Most of the victims of the shooting were elderly.

Defence lawyers for Bowers have argued that he suffers from major mental health issues and that a death sentence would violate the Constitution on the grounds.

They claimed he had a "misguided intent" of wanting to stop one of the Jewish organisations from helping immigrants settle in the United States.

The court heard that the former truck driver yelled "All Jews must die!" during the mass shooting, which in turn added to the fears about a revival of far-right extremists and neo-Nazis across the US.

2018 synagogue massacre

The incident took place during Shabbat services and Bowers was armed with an AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle and three Glock handguns. The police then arrested him at the scene.

The massacre claimed the lives of members of three congregations in the synagogue. Two additional worshippers and several police officers were also injured in the incident.

As per local media reports, Bowers had expressed strong anti-Semitic views online before the attack.

The then-US president Donald Trump had called for Bowers to receive the death penalty.

However, the Department of Justice under President Joe Biden has not carried out any federal executions since he came to power in January 2021.

(With inputs from agencies)

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