What do we know of the shooting in a synagogue in the United States that killed 11 people?



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People at the vigil in Pittsburgh.

Getty Images

Hundreds of people from Squirrel Hill and Pittsburgh met a few hours after the attack for an interfaith vigil on behalf of the victims.

An armed man entered a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA on Saturday and opened fire, killing 11 people.

Four officers and two assistants from the Tree of Life congregation were injured.

This is what we know until now.

What happened?

Emergency services arrived at the scene around 10:00 am local time (14:00 GMT), during the Brit Mila (Jewish baptism) of a baby.

Two officers, among the first to respond, were injured in a first clash with the gunman.

Two other members of the SWAT team were injured inside the building before stopping the attacker.

A 61-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man also had to receive medical treatment and remain under observation.

The crime scene was "horrific", told reporters Wendell Hissrich, Pittsburgh's director of public safety. "One of the worst I've seen," he said.

Authorities have ordered to increase the number of agents in "particularly sensitive places" as a precautionary measure. They described the crime scene as "very complex" and announced that the synagogue would be closed for at least a week.

Who are the victims

The Pennsylvania authorities revealed the identities of the eleven victims. Among them, there are two brothers and a marriage. And their age varies from 54 to 97 years old.

His names are:

  • Joyce Feinberg, 75 years old

  • Richard Gottfried, 65 years old

  • Rose Mallinger, age 97

  • Jerry Rabinowitz, 66 years old

  • Cecil Rosenthal, 59 years old

  • David Rosenthal, 54, Cecil's brother

  • Bernice Simon, 84 years old

  • Sylvan Simon, age 86, spouse of Bernice

  • Daniel Stein, 71 years old

  • Melvin wax, 88

  • Irving Younger, 69 years old

The police demanded respect for the privacy of families.

There are also four wounded under medical supervision after the removal of two of the officers. The 71-a-man gunshot wounds in the torso and he is in critical condition.

Wendell Hissrich

Getty Images

Pittsburgh Public Security Director Wendell Hissrich called the scene of the shooting frightening.

And the suspect?

The suspect was identified as being Robert Bowers, 46 years old.

The US Attorney's Office has already formally accused him of the attack and will ask for the death penaltyad. He faces 29 criminal charges.

  • Eleven counts charge for obstructing the exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death.

  • Eleven counts of using a firearm to commit murder with violence.

  • Four charges of impeding the exercise of religious beliefs causing bodily harm to a public security officer.

  • Three charges of using and discharging a gun to commit a crime with violence.

The Office of the Prosecutor also stated that he would lay charges hate crimes.

At a press conference Sunday, US authorities said they had searched the suspect's home and vehicle, as well as surveillance cameras, but that the contents were confidential.

They also confirmed that Bowers had published antisemitic content on the Gab social network with the user name "onedingo".

In the biography of his story – now suspended – he commits various attacks on Jews.

On the same Saturday morning, he used this social network to attack the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society refugee group (HIAS) and said he could not "sit down and watch how they were killing my people.

Robert Bowers

AFP

Robert Bowers had published antisemitic comments on the Gab social network.

"Let their points of view disturb, I will enter," he wrote.

In earlier publications, he attacked US President Donald Trump and the Jewish community.

"Trump is a globalist, not a nationalist," he wrote. "There is no #MAGA while there is an infestation of The Jews"

MAGA represents the slogan of the Trump campaign: Make America Great Again.

In another post, he said, "For the record: I did not vote for him (Trump), nor did I use, or even touch, a hat that says MAGA."

After the shooting, the state of New York deployed police to protect the synagogues of that city.

Hate speech

Gab is a social network created in August 2016 as an alternative to Twitter.

Its founder, Andrew Torba, told the site Buzzfeed News that the intention was to create an alternative to the "monopoly of large left social organizations".

Critics say it is a space reserved for hate speech and those who have been banned from traditional social networks.

The police in the scene.

Reuters

Federal authorities treat this case as a hate crime.

However, Torba pointed out that the site was not intended for any particular group or political group.

The site's guidelines establish that its mission is "to place people and freedom of expression in the first place", although incitement to violence, illegal pornography and the publication of confidential information on users be prohibited.

After the synagogue attack, the website issued a statement condemning the attack.

"Gab disapproves and unequivocally condemns all acts of terrorism and violence"give the statement." It has always been our policy. "

The network claims to have quickly backed up all data from the suspected shooter's account, suspended them, and contacted the FBI to provide this information.

Map with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania location.

BBC

Pittsburgh is located in the state of Pennsylvania, about six hours from New York.

The reactions

President Donald Trump described the attack as a "perverse act of mass murder".

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1056200966809288704

"I'm looking at the events happening in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, there are officers on the scene, the people of Squirrel Hill need to be protected, there seem to be many casualties, beware of the shooter, God bless you all ! "

"Terrible, it's something terrible," President Trump told reporters. "Seeing this happen again and again, for so many years, it's a pity."

The US president has described the man as "maniacal" and suggested to the United States to "toughen up their laws on the death penalty (…)", although he said that the incident had "little to do" with the gun laws. fire in the United States.

"If they had benefited from protection in the interior, the situation might have been different," he said.

But the attack can be "the deadliest against the Jewish community in history "as described by the anti-defamation League of the country, what we know so far.


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