Pittsburgh synagogue gunman formally sentenced to death

The man who killed 11 congregants at a Pittsburgh synagogue is formally sentenced to death, one day after a jury determined that capital punishment was appropriate for the perpetrator of the deadliest attack on Jews in US history.

US District Judge Robert Colville imposes the sentence on Robert Bowers, a 50-year-old truck driver whose vicious antisemitism led him to shoot his way into a place of worship and target people for practicing their faith.

“I have nothing specific that I care to say to Mr. Bowers,” Colville says, before issuing the formal sentence. “I am however convinced there is nothing I could say to him that might be meaningful.”

Bowers ranted about Jews online before carrying out the attack at the Tree of Life synagogue on October 27, 2018, and told police at the scene that “all these Jews must die.” He has since expressed pride in the killings.

Jurors were unanimous in finding that Bowers’ attack was motivated by his hatred of Jews, and that he chose Tree of Life for its location in one of the largest and most historic Jewish communities in the nation so he could “maximize the devastation, amplify the harm of his crimes, and instill fear within the local, national, and international Jewish communities.” They also found that Bowers lacked remorse.

The jury rejected defense claims that Bowers has schizophrenia and that his delusions about Jewish people spurred the attack.

It was the first federal death sentence imposed during the presidency of Joe Biden, who pledged during his 2020 campaign to end capital punishment.