Trump calls Pittsburgh attack evil anti-Semitism

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — US President Donald Trump on Saturday condemned the “wicked act of mass murder” at a Pittsburgh synagogue, saying anti-Semitism “must be confronted anywhere and everywhere it appears” and speculating that the death toll would have been curbed if an armed guard had been in the building.

With both the number of deaths and details of the synagogue’s security still to be disclosed, Trump said gun control “has little to do with it” but “if they had protection inside, the results would have been far better.”

According to reports in the local Pittsburgh press, the attack killed at least 11 people. The suspected gunman was named as 46-year-old Robert Bowers, whose social media activity showed far-right and anti-Semitic sentiment. He is said to have yelled “All Jews must die” as he entered the Conservative Tree of Life synagogue in the city and began firing during a baby naming ceremony.

City officials said the shooting was being investigated as a federal hate crime.

Trump offered an unsparing denunciation of anti-Semitism, which he said was the motive behind the attack, in contrast to remarks after clashes between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville last year. Then, he only inflamed tensions by blaming both sides for the violence.

Speaking to young farmers in Indianapolis, Trump called the attack at a baby-naming ceremony “pure evil, hard to believe, and frankly something that is unimaginable.”

After calling on the country to come together, Trump invited a pastor and rabbi on stage to pray. He said he would continue with plans to hold a political rally in Illinois later in the day, arguing that “we can’t let evil change our life and change our schedule.”

Less than two weeks before elections for control of Congress, the shooting followed a tense week dominated by a mail bomb plot with apparent political motivations, and served as another toxic reminder of a divided nation.

“A lot of people killed,” Trump said upon his arrival in Indiana. “A lot of people very badly wounded.” He said the attack “looks definitely like it’s an anti-Semitic crime” and “there must be no tolerance for anti-Semitism in America.”

But the attack did not persuade him that tighter gun controls are needed.

“This is a case where, if they had an armed guard inside, they might have been able to stop him immediately,” Trump said. “Maybe there would have been nobody killed, except for him, frankly. So it’s a very, very – a very difficult situation.”

After previous mass shootings, Trump has at times said he would consider tightening gun laws but in the main has called for more armed guards in places such as schools.

“The world is a violent world,” he said before his speech. “And you think when you’re over it, it just sort of goes away, but then it comes back in the form of a madman, a wacko … They had a maniac walk in and they didn’t have any protection and that is just so sad to see, so sad to see.”

Trump said lawmakers “should very much bring the death penalty into vogue” and people who kill in places such as synagogues and churches “really should suffer the ultimate price.”

Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.