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TODAYS TOP HEADLINES
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Monday, October 29, 2018 3A
Police: Gunman
said ‘I just want
to kill Jews’
STEPHANIE STRASBURG I Associated Press
Isabel Kinnane Smith of Allderdice is comforted by Lesley
Britton, a math teacher at the school, at a vigil blocks from
where an active shooter shot multiple people at Tree of
Life Congregation synagogue on Saturday, Oct. 27, in the
Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh.
BY MARK SC0LF0R0,
CLAUDIA LAUER AND
ALLEN G. BREED
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH — Trib
utes rolled in Sunday to the
victims of the Pittsburgh
synagogue massacre as
authorities worked to piece
together the background and
movements of the suspected
gunman, who authorities said
expressed hatred of Jews as
he opened fire with an AR-15
rifle and other weapons and
later told police, “All these
Jews need to die.”
Robert Gregory Bowers
killed eight men and three
women inside the Tree of
Life Synagogue on Satur
day during worship services
before a tactical police team
tracked him down and shot
him, authorities said in state
and federal affidavits made
public on Sunday.
Six people were injured
in the attack, including four
officers.
Officials released the
names of all 11 of the dead,
all of them middle-aged or
elderly. The victims included
intellectually disabled broth
ers and a husband and wife.
The youngest was 54 and the
oldest was 97.
“The loss is incalculable,”
said Stephen Cohen, co-pres
ident of New Light Congre
gation, which rents space at
Tree of Life.
Mayor Bill Peduto called
it the “darkest day of Pitts
burgh’s history.”
Bowers shot his victims
with an AR-15 — the weapon
used in many of the nation’s
mass shootings — and three
handguns, all of which he
owned legally and had a
license to carry, according
to a law enforcement official
who wasn’t authorized to dis
cuss the ongoing investiga
tion, and spoke Sunday on
condition of anonymity.
Little else was known
about Bowers, who had no
apparent criminal record
but who is believed to have
expressed virulently anti-
Semitic views on social
media. It appears he acted
alone, authorities said.
His neighbor, Chris Hall,
said he never heard or saw
anything to indicate that Bow
ers harbored anti-Semitic
views or posed a threat. Bow
ers kept to himself, he said.
“The most terrifying
thing is just how normal he
seemed,” Hall said. “I wish
I knew what was going on
inside his head. Maybe some
thing could have been done. I
don’t know.”
The victims included Mel
vin Wax, a retired accountant
in his late 80s who was always
one of the first to arrive at
synagogue and among the
last to leave.
“He and I used to, at the
end of services, try to tell a
joke or two to each other,”
said Myron Snider, a fel
low member of New Light
Congregation, which rented
space in the basement of
Tree of Life. “Most of the
time they were clean jokes.
Most of the time. I won’t say
all the time. But most of the
time.”
The toll also included
professors, dentists and
physicians.
The University of Pitts
burgh Medical Center
tweeted it mourned the loss
of Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz, 66,
“one of the kindest physi
cians and human beings in
our community.”
Two other victims, Cecil
Rosenthal, 59, and his
younger brother David
Rosenthal, 54, were intel
lectually disabled and lived
together in Pittsburgh’s
Squirrel Hill neighborhood,
near the synagogue where
they were killed.
“Cecil’s laugh was infec
tious. David was so kind
and had such a gentle spirit.
Together, they looked out
for one another. They were
inseparable,” said Chris
Schopf, vice president of
residential supports for
ACHIEVA, which helped the
brothers live independently.
“Most of all, they were kind,
good people with a strong
faith and respect for every
one around.”
Vigils were planned in
Pittsburgh, Washington and
elsewhere, while the Pitts
burgh Steelers and Cleveland
Browns observed a moment
of silence at Heinz Field on
Sunday.
Bowers apparently posted
an anti-Semitic message on a
social media account linked
to him just a few minutes
before he opened fire during
Sabbath services on Saturday
morning. After the attack, he
told an officer, “I just want to
kill Jews,” according to a fed
eral affidavit.
The gunman targeted a
building that housed three
separate congregations, all
of which were conducting
Sabbath services when the
attack began just before 10
a.m. in the tree-lined residen
tial neighborhood of Squirrel
Hill, about 10 minutes from
downtown Pittsburgh and
the hub of the city’s Jewish
community.
The Jewish community
is “an important part of the
cultural and social identity
of Pittsburgh, and so this was
an attack upon our neighbors
and upon our friends,” said
Scott Brady, the chief fed
eral prosecutor in western
Pennsylvania.
Retired Tree of Life Rabbi
Alvin Berkun, who knew
nearly all of the victims,
said Bowers penetrated all
three areas of the synagogue
where the worshippers were
gathered. The synagogue
pays police officers to pro
vide security on high holi
days, but not at other times,
he said.
“When that was over,
there’s virtually no security, ”
he said. “We were lax in our
vigilance.”
Michael Eisenberg, the
immediate past president
of the Tree of Life, said
synagogue officials had not
received any threats that he
knew of before the shooting.
But security was a concern,
he said, and the synagogue
had started working to
improve it.
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AMY TAXIN I Associated Press
New American citizens stand during a naturalization ceremony in Los Angeles, Sept. 18.
More than 700,000 immigrants are waiting on their applications to become U.S. citizens,
a process that in many parts of the country now takes a year or more.
Wait times for citizenship
applications up to 2 years
BY AMY TAXIN
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — More than 700,000
immigrants are waiting on applications to
become U.S. citizens, a process that once
typically took about six months but has
stretched to more than two years in some
places under the administration of Presi
dent Donald Trump.
The long wait times have prompted
some immigrant advocates to ask whether
the delays are aimed at keeping anti-
Trump voters from casting ballots in
elections.
“People are motivated to participate,
and they’re being frustrated from being
able to participate in the elections they’re
excited about,” said Manuel Pastor, direc
tor of the University of Southern Califor
nia’s Center for the Study of Immigrant
Integration.
The number of immigrants aspiring to
become U.S. citizens surged during 2016,
jumping 27 percent from a year earlier as
Trump made cracking down on immigra
tion a central theme of his presidential
campaign. At first, the federal government
kept up with the applications, but then the
=wait grew.
Backlogs are nothing new in the U.S.
immigration system. It often takes years
to receive asylum or to be deported. But
naturalization — the final step to become
an American citizen, obtain a U.S. passport
and receive voting rights — had not been
subject to such delays in recent years.
Now the average wait time for officials
to decide on applications is more than 10
months. It takes up to 22 months in Atlanta
and as long as 26 months in parts of Texas,
according to official estimates.
Trump tweeted on Thursday that Cen
tral American migrants headed north in
a U.S.-bound caravan should return home
and can apply for American citizenship if
they wish. “Go back to your Country and
if you want, apply for citizenship like mil
lions of others are doing!” he posted as
thousands continued their trek through
Mexico.
But immigrants generally must be legal
permanent residents of the United States
to apply for citizenship and getting a green
card can take years — if a person even
qualifies for one.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Ser
vices said the longer waits to naturalize
are because of the surge in applications,
not slower processing. The agency decided
850,000 cases in 2017, up 8 percent from a
year before.
Despite “a record and unprecedented”
spike in applications, the agency is oper
ating more efficiently and effectively
and “outperforming itself,” spokesman
Michael Bars said in a statement.
To become an American citizen, immi
grants must hold green cards for at least
three years, demonstrate good moral char
acter and pass English and civics tests.
Citizenship applications typically rise
before an increase in filing fees and dur
ing presidential election years as immi
grants get excited about the prospect of
voting and advocacy groups conduct wide
spread outreach to try to get more eligible
voters to the polls.
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