Nurse who treated the Pittsburgh shooter: "I'm sure he did not know that I was Jewish" | American News

A week after an armed man shouted anti-Semitic remarks when he killed 11 people and wounded six others in a Pittsburgh synagogue, a nurse who treated his wounds said, "I'm sure 'he did not know that I was Jewish.'

Robert Bowers, 46, was shot dead by police at Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill. He was treated at the Allegheny General Hospital, during which he continued to shout antisemitic remarks, said the hospital president. Faced with a charge of 44 counts of murder, hate crimes, obstruction of the practice of religion and other crimes, Bowers pleaded not guilty. He faces the death penalty.

According to the Washington Post, "at least three" of the doctors and nurses who saved the shooter's life were Jewish, which caught the attention of the world throughout a week of debate and mourning.

Ari Mahler wrote the following in an article published on Facebook Saturday: "So now I'm here, the Jewish nurse who was taking care of Robert Bowers.

"I saw them talking about me on CNN, Fox News, Anderson Cooper, PBS and local news channels. I've read articles that mentioned me in the [New York] Times and the Washington Post. The fact that I did my job, a job that requires compassion and empathy for everything, is worthy of people because I am Jewish. Especially since my father is a rabbi. "

Representatives of the press, including the daily Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, said representatives of the Allegheny health network confirmed the authenticity of the post and Mahler's role as a nurse in the emergency trauma rooms.

Mahler has written extensively about his childhood and about his experience of anti-Semitism in what he called "another era … where intimidation was no longer monitored as today.

"The fact that this shooting took place," he continued, "does not shock me – to be honest, it's only a matter of time before the next one happens … the FBI and the Southern Poverty Law Center finds that Jews make up only 2% of the US population, while 60% of all hate crimes against religious people are committed against them, I do not know why people hate us so much, but the the underbelly of anti-Semitism seems to thrive. "

Bowers' use of social media linked him to far-right currents of opinion in which anti-Semitism mixed with the anti-immigrant invective. After the shooting, the debate raged on the relevance, or even guilt, of Donald Trump's political rhetoric, including his equivocal response to the far-right protesters who chanted antisemitic remarks in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year. The president went to Squirrel Hill, where he met with protesters and stirred controversy.

Mahler did not address these issues directly, writing in his message the "compassion" and "empathy" that he tried to show to the shooter.

"To be honest," he wrote, "I did not see the harm by looking into Robert Bowers' eyes. All I've seen is a blatant lack of depth, intelligence and palpable confusion.

He added, however, that he thought Bowers "probably had no friends, was easily influenced by propaganda and wanted to draw attention to a sociopathic plan. He is the kind of person who is easily manipulated by people with a microphone, a platform and who uses his fear for his motivation. "

Mahler said that he would not go into details, because of the rules of confidentiality. But he wrote that the shooter "thanked me for saving him, for showing him kindness and for treating him the same way that I treat all the other patients."

"It was the same Robert Bowers who had just committed a mass homicide. The Robert Bowers who sowed panic in my heart and worried my parents were two of his 11 victims within an hour of his arrival.

"I'm sure he had no idea of ​​my Jewish identity. Why thank a Jewish nurse, when 15 minutes in advance, you shot me in the head without any remorse?

"I did not tell him a word of my religion. I chose to say nothing to him all the time. I wanted him to feel compassion. I chose to show him empathy. I felt that the best way to honor his victims was that a Jew proved him the opposite. Moreover, if he discovers that I am Jewish, is it really important? The best question is, what does it mean for you? "

In conclusion, Mahler wrote: "If my actions mean something, love wants everything".