For the record, I didn’t vote for Trump, says synagogue killer

A social media profile of the Pittsburgh gunman gave a glimpse of a man steeped in anti-Semitism and white supremacism.

SWAT members leave the Tree of Life Synagogue yesterday. Picture: Getty Images

A social media profile of Robert Bowers, who killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue yesterday, gave a glimpse of a man steeped in anti-Semitism and white supremacism who poured out his hatred in a vast stream of vitriol.

A message posted hours before the attack stated: “I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.”

Bowers, 46, was an active poster on Gab, an alternative version of Twitter that is popular with white supremacists, white nationalists, members of alt-right groups and others who have been kicked off mainstream social media sites.

Gab said after the shooting it had backed up all Bowers’s data before closing his account and ­informing the FBI.

Under his tag @onedingo­wrote, Bowers wrote “jews are the children of satan. (john 8:44) — the lord jesus christ is come in the flesh” and referred to “oven-dodgers”. The cover photo featured the neo-Nazi symbol “1488”. The first two numbers refer to the white supremacist “14 Words” slogan, while “88” stands for “Heil Hitler” since “H” is the eighth letter of the alphabet. Bowers posted a photo of an oven like those used in Nazi concentration camps to cremate Jews, captioned “Make Ovens 1488F Again”.

In other posts he featured memes containing false conspir­acy theories suggesting the Holocaust — in which six million Jews perished — was a hoax

He said HIAS — a non-profit organisation, originally called the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, that helps refugees from many parts of the world — “likes to bring invaders that kill our ­people”. He expressed anti-immigrant and white supremacist views, including “diversity means chasing down the last white person”.

Bowers also denounced President Donald Trump, whom he described as a “globalist not a nationalist”. Bowers wrote: “For the record, I did not vote for him nor have I owned, worn or even touch a maga (Make America Great Again) hat. There is no #)MAGA as long as there is a Jewish infestation”. The same post also referenced QAnon, a pro-Trump conspiracy theory that started on the message board 4chan and has been spread by a fringe element of the President’s supporters.

Bowers recently posted a photo of a collection of three black semi-automatic handguns he titled “my glock family”, a reference to the Austrian firearms manufacturer. He also posted photos of bullet holes in person-sized targets at a firing range, touting the “amazing trigger” on his weapon. Bowers has a licence to carry a firearm and has made at least six gun purchases since 1996, CNN reported. Bowers was armed with an assault rifle and at least three handguns when he burst into the Tree of Life synagogue.

Gab said yesterday it was being forced offline following the attack. A post made on the site’s Twitter account earlier appeared to revel in the attention prompted by the killings, saying “We have been getting 1 million hits an hour all day”.

Gab said its hosting provider Joyent would be suspending its services as of tomorrow, while PayPal has also reportedly banned the site. “Gab will likely be down for weeks because of this,” the site said on its Twitter account. “We will continue to fight for free expression and individual liberty online for all people. Big tech can not stop us. The mainstream media can not stop us. The People will defend freedom against ­tyranny as they always have and always will.”

Bowers has no apparent criminal record. He was registered in Allegany County, which includes Pittsburgh, as an unaffiliated voter.

Pope Francis called the killings “an inhuman act of violence” last night, expressing his “closeness to the Jewish community”.

The Sunday Times, AP