America goes to murderous extremes in a weekend of hate
Two murderous extremists are in custody after committing unthinkable crimes that shocked the country.
It was America’s weekend of hate, with two murderous extremists now in custody after committing unthinkable crimes that shocked the country and further exposed deep divisions within it.
In Pittsburgh, 46-year-old anti-Semite Robert Bowers burst into a synagogue during a baby-naming ceremony yesterday and opened fire, killing 11 people and leaving six congregants injured in what is thought to be the most deadly attack on Jews on US soil.
It came only a day after police arrested 56-year-old Cesar Altieri Sayoc in Florida, accusing him of sending at least 14 mail bombs to left-wing politicians and opinion-makers, including former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
“It’s a terrible, terrible thing, what’s going on with hate in our country, frankly, and all over the world, and something has to be done,” President Donald Trump said after the synagogue shooting.
He described the attack as “a wicked act of mass murder”.
“This was an anti-Semitic act,” Mr Trump said. “You wouldn’t think this would be possible in this day and age. But we just don’t seem to learn from the past.”
The President, criticised in recent days for the divisive nature of his rhetoric, struck a unifying tone, vowing he would “fight for a future of justice, safety, tolerance, morality, dignity and love”.
He ordered flags to be flown at half-mast on all public buildings, including the White House.
Shortly before the shooting, Bowers, who had described Jews as “the children of satan”, posted on the social network Gab that he’d had enough and was “going in”. Referring to HIAS, a Jewish non-profit group that helps resettle refugees, he wrote: “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.”
Bowers, who was believed to be armed with an AR-15 assault rifle as well as several pistols, then went to the Tree of Life Synagogue, Pittsburgh’s oldest Jewish congregation.
After he shot those inside, police engaged him in a shootout before he surrendered, crawling out on his hands and knees with a pistol strapped to his ankle and one in his waistbelt. Bowers was injured, along with four of the policemen, one seriously.
Several media outlets claimed he yelled “All Jews must die” just prior to opening fire. Last night, he was charged with 29 counts of federal crimes of violence and firearms offences, including 11 counts of using a firearm to commit murder and 11 of obstructing the exercise of religion resulting in death. He could face the death penalty.
“This is likely the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the US,” Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, said. “We are devastated. Jews targeted on Shabbat morning at a synagogue, a holy place of worship, is unconscionable.”
The FBI agent in charge, Robert Allan Jones said: “This is the most horrific crime scene I’ve seen in 22 years with the FBI. Members of the Tree of Life Synagogue conducting a peaceful service … were brutally murdered by a gunman targeting them simply because of their faith.
Mr Trump tried to play down the relevance of gun laws to the shooting, saying there should have been armed guards at the synagogue. “This has little to do with it if you take a look. If they had protection inside, the results would have been far better,” he said.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said the shooting was “an absolute tragedy … these senseless acts of violence are not who we are as Americans. “We cannot accept this violence as normal.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “heartbroken and appalled” by the attack. “The entire people of Israel grieve with the families of the dead,” he said.
Mr Trump said those who committed crimes like the synagogue shooting should be sentenced to death. “I think they should very much bring the death penalty into vogue. Anybody that does a thing like this to innocent people that are in temple or in church — we had so many incidents with churches … they should really suffer the ultimate price.”
The attack on the synagogue was not believed to have any connection with the mail bomb campaign conducted by Mr Sayoc, although both were driven by hatred and extremism.
Mr Sayoc is a loner who has a long arrest record and has drifted from job to job, recently living with his mother in Florida. He is a fanatical supporter of Mr Trump and plastered stickers over his white van praising the President and taking aim at his critics, including CNN and former Democrat rival Hillary Clinton.
In 2002, he was arrested for making a bomb threat and his lawyer in that case, Ronald Lowy, described him as “a confused man who had trouble controlling his emotions”. Among a long list of minor convictions dating from the 1990s he was convicted in 2013 for battery and 2014 for grand theft.
In 2016, Mr Sayoc, a former stripper and amateur body builder, began to take an interest in politics, backing Mr Trump, attending rallies and his inauguration.
His social media posts contained angry criticism of those Democrats and liberals the President targeted. He delved into right-wing news sites, promoting a range of hoax and conspiracy theories. He once tweeted a claim that German leader Angela Merkel had been conceived from the frozen sperm of Adolf Hitler.
Yet while many who knew him described him as strange, no one appears to have predicted or suspected the bomb plot.
After he sent 14 rudimentary pipe-bombs in the same week to former presidents, Democrat members of congress, CIA and intelligence directors and actor Robert De Niro and CNN, police traced him to Aventura, Florida.
Using a fingerprint found on a manilla envelope and DNA on the pipe-devices, they found a match with Mr Sayoc. The fact Mr Sayoc targeted Mr Trump’s enemies sparked a debate about his confrontationist rhetoric, with Democrats accusing him of inciting such behaviour with inflammatory language. Mr Trump rejected the claim, saying there was a difference between rhetoric and action.
Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia
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