Gunman ‘radicalised online’
The defence experts "simply mistook every ordinary widespread white separatist belief as delusions because they were not familiar with them", he said.
(TIMES OF ISRAEL) – THE gunman who murdered 11 Jewish worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue did not suffer from delusions but was spurred by white supremacist radicalisation, a forensic psychiatrist has testified.
Park Dietz, who has for decades provided expert testimony in some of the highest-profile insanity defence cases, was the final witness in the first part of the death penalty phase in the federal trial of Robert Bowers, who committed the deadliest attack on American Jews in history on October 27, 2018.
Dietz, a witness for the prosecution, countered defence testimony that Bowers suffered from schizophrenia and delusions. He said Bowers got his ideas about Jews not from his twisted imagination but from the antisemitic writings online that radicalised him.
In his testimony, Dietz said the difference between his view and experts brought forward by the defence is “whether we regard the defendant’s beliefs as delusions on the one hand or subcultural beliefs on the other”.
The defence experts “simply mistook every ordinary widespread white separatist belief as delusions because they were not familiar with them”, he said.
Dietz placed Bowers’ crime in the context of decades of American right-wing extremism. “When you see this promoted for 20 years or 40 years, promoted in books and online forums, it is clear they are subcultural beliefs,” said Dietz, who examined Bowers for 15 hours in May.
Dietz, who has conducted substantial research on far-right extremism, said that Bowers’ thinking could be traced to a number of late 20th-century writings that have underpinned white supremacist ideology, including White Genocide Manifesto authored in 1985 by David Lane – the leader of The Order, who killed Jewish radio host Alan Berg.
“There were sources for all of this,” he said. “The White Genocide Manifesto was the principal one from which much of this flows.” He also cited the “Great Replacement” theory which posits that Jews are organising a mass influx of immigrants of colour into Western nations to replace whites.
Dietz is the final witness in the first part of the death penalty phase, which mostly has focused on whether Bowers’ intent meets the requirement for the death penalty. If the jury determines that the crimes meet that threshold, the second phase will consider the defence’s arguments that mitigating factors in Bowers’ life make him ineligible for the death penalty. The prosecution would be expected to present victim impact statements in that phase.
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