Suspected Pittsburgh shooter faces 29 federal charges

Federal prosecutors filed 29 charges against the suspect in a shooting that left at least 11 people dead at the Pittsburgh-area Tree of Life Synagogue Saturday morning, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania Scott W. Brady announced late Saturday.

Robert Bowers faces 29 counts, including 11 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder and 11 counts of obstruction of the exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death. He was wounded at the scene after exchanging gunfire with law enforcement officials.

{mosads}Multiple people, including several police officers, were wounded in the attack.

Bowers posted on his Gab page that “jews are the children of satan” and reportedly shouted “all Jews must die” before he opened fire Saturday.

President Trump condemned the attack as anti-Semitic, calling it an “assault on humanity.”

“This evil anti-Semitic attack is an attack on all of us, it is an assault on humanity. It will require all of us working together to extract the hateful poison of anti-Semitism from our world. This was an anti-Semitic attack at its worst. The scourge of anti-Semitism cannot be ignored, cannot be tolerated, and it cannot be allowed to continue … It must be confronted and condemned everywhere it rears its very ugly head,” he said.

Vice President Pence also condemned the shooting while speaking at an event in Las Vegas, saying, “There is no place in America for violence or anti-Semitism.”

Trump said the heinousness of the attack could warrant the death penalty.

“Through the centuries, the Jews have endured terrible persecution … And those seeking their destruction, we will seek their destruction. And when you have crimes like this, whether it’s this one or another one on another group, we have to bring back the death penalty,” he said. 

He also suggested an armed guard at the synagogue could have stopped the shooting.

“This is a case where if they had an armed guard inside they would have been able to stop him immediately,” he said. 

When asked if all places of prayer should have guards, Trump said, “its certainly an option.”