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PITTSBURGH-President Trump visited the Pittsburgh synagogue on Tuesday where 11 people were shot to death Saturday and mourned the victims.
The visit was marked by a protest and a national conversation about the political part of violence.
Mr. Trump and first lady Melania Trump lighted candles in the Tree of Life They were joined by Tree of Life Congregation Rabbi Jeffrey Myers.
Mr. Trump's daughter Ivanka and his-in-law Jared Kushner, who are Jewish, followed at a short distance.
The event was punctuated by cries from protesters gathered nearby. More than 1,000 people marched through Squirrel Hill, the Pittsburgh neighborhood where The Tree of Life is located, singing in Hebrew and carrying "No place for hate" and "We do bridges not walls."
Several said they thought the president was drawing attention to himself, rather than letting the community mourn.
"He's my president but he has no solution for this thing," said Berry Barta, 70 years old, who lives in the neighborhood and said she did not want Mr. Trump to visit. "For him to blame the people because they did not have security-it's terrible."
Mr. Trump also visited the University of Pittsburgh Presbyterian Medical Center, where some of the wounded were taken. He spent about one hour and 25 minutes there.
The president was largely isolated in his visit. Congressional leaders, including Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, stayed away as well.
Mr. Trump was welcomed, however, by members of the Pittsburgh Jewish community who wrote that "your support of Israel and American Jewry is appreciated, especially in the face of the virulent anti-Semitism our community suffered just days ago."
Mourners on Tuesday said goodbye to Jerry Rabinowitz, a family physician, and Cecil brothers and David Rosenthal, who were killed Saturday.
Saturday's shooting came in several criminal incidents with political overtones. A Florida man was arrested last week in connection with mail bombs sentenced to a number of Democrats the President has criticized and CNN, another target of his ire. Authorities are investigating the shooting of two bosses in Kentucky as a crime.
Mr. Trump's critics say he has done too much to help you get away from it all over the world. Protestants at his rallies, his ambivalent response to racial violence in Charlottesville, Va., And his praise for a Republican congressman who assaulted a journalist, and more.
The White House rejects that criticism.
"The president has denounced racism, hatred, and bigotry in all forms," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters Monday. "We'll continue to do that."
Write to Alex Leary at [email protected] and Kris Maher at [email protected]
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