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Dr. Jeffrey Cohen on CNN. (Rosenberg, Eli)
Eli Rosenberg
Generalist journalist covering national and last-minute news
The man accused of the brutal killing of 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue was taken to the hospital after being apprehended for treatment for injuries he sustained in a shoot-out with the police.
When he arrived at the emergency room, he shouted, "I want to kill all the Jews," according to the hospital president.
If only then he knew who the team was to keep him alive: at least three of the doctors and nurses who cared for him at Allegheny General Hospital were Jewish, according to President Jeffrey K Cohen.
"We are here to take care of sick people," said Cohen, a member of the Tree of Life congregation where the massacre took place, during a televised interview. "We are not here to judge you. We are not here to ask "Do you have insurance?" Or "You do not have insurance?" We are here to take care of people who need our help. "
Cohen's uncomplicated and unassuming description of how Bowers was treated with fairness and impartiality by those he allegedly disliked quickly traveled the world.
It may be a stark reminder that there is something more powerful than just taking care of oneself. It may have been a radical demonstration of Cohen's humanity in an era increasingly marked by naked partisanship and tribalism. In any case, the story resonated; Cohen was interviewed by CNN, a British agency Channel 4 News, ABC and others.
"I thought it was important to talk to him at least and meet him," Cohen told ABC. "You can not say on one side that we should talk to each other, and then I do not talk to him. So, you lead by example and I am the head of the hospital. "
The exact nature of Bowers' injuries is not yet clear, although he appeared in wheelchair court on Monday. Cohen, citing patient privacy laws, declined to elaborate on Bowers' condition and treatment.
But Cohen told reporters that two of the practitioners who treated Bowers on arrival at the hospital were Jewish: the emergency room doctor and a nurse whose father is a rabbi.
"I will tell you that I am very proud of them," he said of his staff. "They did a great job and they answered the ring.
[Pittsburgh trauma center stayed calm as victims kept arriving]
He described speaking to the nurse after the man had treated Bowers. Both were in tears, said Cohen.
"It was rather broken," said Cohen at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "I told him how proud I was. He went home and hugged his parents.
Cohen is personally linked to filming beyond his role at the hospital. He lives so close to the Tree of Life synagogue that he heard the shots as the massacre unfolded. He knew nine of the people who had been killed, he told the Tribune-Review.
That did not stop him from going to Bowers to ask him if he was suffering. The man said that he was fine.
"He asked me who I was, I replied," I'm Dr. Cohen, the hospital president, "said Cohen. "And I turned around and left. And the FBI agent who was watching him said, "I do not know if I could have done it."
Bowers, charged with 29 counts of federal crimes for violence and firearms offenses, faces the death penalty if convicted. The massacre drew unfortunate parallels with the murder of nine African-Americans in a South Carolina church in 2015. This man, Dylann Roof, was motivated by a deep racial animus – something that Bowers seems to share with him.
[Synagogue shooting shatters sense of safety for Squirrel Hill’s Jewish residents]
Cohen's calm recalled the actions of the faithful after the Roof massacre, some telling Roof at a tense hearing held just days after the murder they had forgiven him. Cohen said that he was inspired by the grace that the congregation had manifested.
"I think that at some point, the anger is fading, the process is going to unfold and we may be able to get to the point where we could do what they did," he told Action 4 News. from Pittsburgh. "I hope they can teach us."
Cohen said he sees Bowers as the product and not as the creator of larger problems: "All the chaos that reigns".
"These gentlemen did not seem to be part of the MENSA company," he told CNN. "He listens to the noise, he hears the noise, the noise tells him that his people were being slaughtered. He thought it was time to get up and do something. He is completely confused. "
Groundless conspiracy theories with anti-Semitic connotations circulate in right-wing media circles – bubbling up to the feed of a Fox News host and a well-known Republican congressman – according to which the caravan of migrants at the border would have been orchestrated The Jewish financier George Soros. Bowers had republished several comments on a social media account since the deactivation of the "third world caravan" of "invaders" approaches.
[Synagogue shootings deepen divide in Jewish community over Trump]
Cohen saved his harsh words for the people he believes are responsible for the country's toxic climate.
"It's time for leaders to lead," he said. "And words mean things. And the words drive people to do things like this and I find that appalling. "
Read more:
Gab, the white supremacist sanctuary linked to the Pittsburgh suspect, offline (for the moment)
A conspiracy theory about George Soros and a migrant caravan inspired by horror
Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Others Retain Conspiracy Theories After Suspect Arrest
White nationalist Richard Spencer accused of mistreating his wife throughout their marriage
His picture of Yosemite's commitment became viral. The only problem: he had no idea who they were.
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