Editing Robert Bowers

|Image = 20200904 231505.jpg

|type of villain = Anti-Semetic Mass Shooter

|crimes = Mass [[murder]]<br>Racism<br>[[Anti-Semitism]]

'''Robert Gregory Bowers''' (September 4^th, 1972 - ) is an American [[White Supremacy|white supremacist]] and mass murderer who committed a [[Mass Shooting|mass shooting]] at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 27^th, 2018. Eleven people were killed and seven were injured. The shooting was the deadliest attack on the United States' Jewish community in modern American history.

The full extent of the criminal charges against Bowers are still pending. He currently faces a total of 65 criminal charges combined, on both the federal and state level. The charges carry a maximum penalty of death or 535 years in federal prison. As of May 2020, Bowers has yet to go to trial, and a trial date has yet to be scheduled.

Bowers' political and religious beliefs played a large role in the massacre. He was staunchly and fanatically conservative and was a fierce white nationalist, and was also involved in the [[Christian Identity]] movement. He was a believer in [[Anti-Semitism|antisemitic]] conspiracy theories and had a profile on Gab, a social media network favored by the far-right. His posts on Gab have included many hateful things about Jews, such as "Jews are the children of Satan." He has re-shared many Neo-[[Nazi]] posts and made frequent use of the racial slur "kike", and there is even one recorded use of him saying "Heil [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]]!" Other posts made reference to the [[Fourteen Words]], attacked African Americans with racial slurs and images related to [[lynching]], and attacked women who have relationships with black men. He also used his online accounts to post conspiracy theories regarding investor and philanthropist George Soros.

In the weeks before the shooting, Bowers made antisemitic posts directed at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) who sponsored National Refugee Shabbat of October 19–20, in which Dor Hadash and Tree of Life participated. He claimed Jews were aiding members of Central American caravans moving towards the United States border and referred to members of those caravans as "invaders". Shortly before the attack, in an apparent reference to immigrants to the United States, he posted on Gab that "HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I'm going in."

At 9:50 AM, shortly after Tree of Life starting their early morning Shabbat service, Bowers entered the synagogue and started shooting. He was armed with a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle (cited by authorities as an "assault rifle") and three Glock .357 SIG semi-automatic pistols, all four of which he fired, according to authorities. The first two fatalities occured here.

After about 20 minutes, Bowers proceeded to a downstairs area, where another group was participating in a Torah study. Three more fatalities occurred here. After this, Bowers proceeded to the main congregational chamber where the primary Shabbat service was occurring and 13 congregants had gathered. The Rabbi leading the service,  

Jeffrey Myers, was able to evacuate some of the congregants, but eight stayed behind, with seven ending up being killed and one being wounded.

At 9:59 AM, police arrived at the synagogue. Bowers fired on police from the entryway, apparently on his way out of the building, and police returned fire, causing him to retreat back into the building. This resulted in a nearly 30-minute standoff, after which tactical teams arrived on scene and fired on Bowers, who fired back. In the exchange of gunfire two SWAT members were also wounded, one critically.

Bowers finally surrendered to police at 11:08 AM.

On October 31, Bowers was indicted on 44 counts by a federal grand jury. The counts included [[hate crime]]s, 11 counts of obstruction of exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death, 11 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder during a crime of violence, four counts of obstruction of exercise of religious beliefs resulting in bodily injury to a public safety officer, and three counts of use and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. On November 1, Bowers entered a plea of not guilty.

On January 29, 2019, the grand jury indicted Bowers on an additional 19 counts, 13 of which were for hate crimes. On February 11, 2019, Bowers was arraigned in federal court. Bowers is represented by defense attorney Judy Clarke. Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Bowers was also charged with 36 state criminal counts, including 11 counts of criminal homicide, 6 counts of aggravated assault, 6 counts of attempted criminal homicide, and 13 counts of ethnic intimidation.

In September 2019, prosecutors asked U.S. District judge Donetta Ambrose to set a trial date of Sep 14, 2020. On October 31, 2019, Ambrose declined to set a trial date, pending the resolution of outstanding motions

[[Category:Anti-Semetic]]