Pittsburgh trial begins
In proceedings before and during juror questioning, the defence has done little to cast doubt on whether Bowers was the gunman and has instead focused on preventing his execution.
Prosecutors on Tuesday described how a heavily armed suspect barged into a Pittsburgh synagogue and shot every worshipper he could find in the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history.
Robert Bowers’ federal trial got underway more than four years after the shooting deaths of 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue.
“The depths of the defendant’s malice and hate can only be proven in the broken bodies” of the victims and “his hateful words”, Assistant US Attorney Soo C Song said during her opening statement.
Some of the survivors dabbed tears, while Bowers, seated at the defence table, showed no reaction.
The defence was expected to present its opening statement before the prosecution began calling witnesses.
Bowers, 50, could face the death penalty if convicted of some of the 63 counts he faces in the October 27, 2018, attack, which claimed the lives of worshippers from three congregations who were sharing the building, Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life. Bowers also injured seven people, including five police officers who responded to the scene, investigators said.
Charges include 11 counts each of obstruction of free exercise of religion resulting in death, and hate crimes resulting in death.
Members of the three congregations arrived at the courthouse in a school bus and entered together.
Prosecutors have said Bowers made antisemitic comments at the scene of the attack and online.
In proceedings before and during juror questioning, the defence has done little to cast doubt on whether Bowers was the gunman and has instead focused on preventing his execution.
Bowers, a truck driver from Pittsburgh, had offered to plead guilty in return for a life sentence, but federal prosecutors turned him down. Bowers’ attorneys also recently said he has schizophrenia and brain impairments.
The families of those killed are divided over whether the government should pursue the death penalty, but most have voiced support.
Prosecutors are expected to tell jurors about incriminatory statements Bowers allegedly made to investigators, an online trail of antisemitic statements that they say shows the attack was motivated by religious hatred, and the guns recovered from him at the crime scene, where police shot Bowers three times before he surrendered.
In a filing earlier this year, prosecutors said Bowers “harboured deep, murderous animosity towards all Jewish people”. They said he also expressed hatred for HIAS, founded as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, a not-for-profit humanitarian group that helps refugees and asylum seekers.
TIMES OF ISRAEL, AP
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