PITTSBURGH (AP) — A truck driver who hated Jewish people turned a sacred house of worship into a “hunting ground” when he burst into a Pittsburgh synagogue and killed 11 congregants, a federal prosecutor said Thursday, asking jurors to return a conviction in the nation’s deadliest antisemitic attack.
Robert Bowers is charged with 63 criminal counts, including hate crimes resulting in death and obstruction of the free exercise of religion resulting in death. Some of the charges carry a potential death sentence.
In closing arguments Thursday, a prosecutor told the jury that Bowers targeted his victims because of their religion.
“He is filled with hatred for Jews,” prosecutor Mary Hahn said, noting Bowers had an extensive history of posting antisemitic and white supremacist content online. “That is what propelled him to act.”
Bowers’ attorney was expected to address the jury after the government finished its presentation, followed by jury deliberations.
The defense did not call any witnesses or present any evidence after conceding at the trial’s outset that he attacked and killed worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018. Seven people were injured in the attack, including five responding police officers.
Prosecutors say the 50-year-old was motivated by his hatred of Jewish people. Over 11 days of testimony, jurors learned that Bowers had extensively posted, shared or liked antisemitic and white supremacist content on Gab, a social media platform popular with the far right.
The defense has sought to raise questions about motive, suggesting to jurors that his rampage was not spurred by antisemitism but his delusional belief that Jews were committing genocide by helping refugees settle in the United States.
The jury could begin deliberating as early as Thursday afternoon.
Assuming the jury returns a conviction, the trial would enter what’s expected to be a lengthy penalty phase, with the same jurors deciding Bowers’ sentence: life in prison or the death penalty. Bowers’ attorneys have focused their efforts on trying to save his life.
