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TODAYS TOP HEADLINES
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Tuesday, October 30, 2018 3A
Pa. synagogue massacre
defendant appears in court
Official: Bomb
suspect had hit list
BY CURT ANDERSON AND MICHAEL BALSAMO
Associated Press
MATT ROURKE I Associated Press
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life/Or L’Simcha Congregation stands near the
synagogue and wears a yarmulke with a Pittsburgh Pirates logo, in Pittsburgh,
Monday, Oct. 29.
BY MARYCLAIRE DALE,
CLAUDIA LAUER AND
ALLEN G. BREED
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH — The man accused
in the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre
appeared briefly in federal court in a
wheelchair and handcuffs Monday to
face charges he killed 11 people in what
is believed to be the deadliest attack on
Jews in U.S. history.
Robert Gregory Bowers, who was
wounded in a gun battle with police dur
ing the shooting rampage, was released
from a hospital and wheeled into the
courtroom, where he was ordered held
without bail for a preliminary hearing
on Thursday, when prosecutors will out
line their case against him.
During the proceeding, Bowers talked
with two court-appointed lawyers, went
over documents and confirmed his iden
tity to a judge, saying little more than
“Yes” in a soft voice a few times. Court
room deputies freed one of his hands
from cuffs so he could sign paperwork.
He did not enter a plea.
He was expressionless.
“It was not the face of villainy that I
thought we’d see,” said Jon Pushinsky,
a congregant who was in court for the
hearing.
Federal prosecutors set in motion
plans to seek the death penalty against
the 46-year-old truck driver, who
authorities say expressed hatred of
Jews during the rampage at the Tree
of Life synagogue and later told police,
“I just want to kill Jews” and “All these
Jews need to die.”
After the hearing, U.S. Attorney Scott
Brady called the shootings “horrific acts
of violence” and added: “Rest assured
we have a team of prosecutors working
hard to ensure that justice is done.”
Meanwhile, the first funerals — for
Jerry Rabinowitz and brothers Cecil and
David Rosenthal — was set for Tues
day, and the White House announced
President Donald Trump and first lady
Melania Trump will visit the same day
to “express the support of the American
people and to grieve with the Pittsburgh
community.”
The response to Trump’s plans was
mixed.
Leaders of a liberal Jewish group
in Pittsburgh, Bend the Arc, wrote an
open letter to the president, accusing
him of contributing to the violence with
his words and deeds and saying he was
not welcome until he denounced white
nationalism.
But Rabbi Jeffrey Myers with the
Tree of Life synagogue made clear
Trump would be welcome, telling NBC,
“It would be my honor to always meet a
president of the United States.”
The weekend massacre — which
took place 10 days before the midterm
elections — heightened tensions around
the country, coming just a day after the
arrest of the Florida man accused of
sending a wave of pipe bombs to Trump
critics.
The mail bomb attacks and the blood
shed in Pittsburgh set off debate over
whether the corrosive political climate
in Washington and beyond contributed
to the violence and whether Trump
himself bears any blame because of his
combative language.
Barry Werber, 76, said he found
himself hiding in a dark storage closet
as the gunman rampaged through the
building, in the tree-lined neighborhood
of Squirrel Hill, the historic hub of the
city’s Jewish community.
Werber said he hopes Trump doesn’t
visit Pittsburgh, noting that the presi
dent has embraced the politically
fraught label of “nationalist.” He said
the Nazis were nationalists.
“It’s part of his program to instigate
his base,” Werber said, and “bigots are
coming out of the woodwork. ”
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, a Dem
ocrat, said the White House should con
tact the victims’ families and ask them if
they want the president to come to Pitts
burgh. He also warned Trump to stay
away when the first funerals are held.
“If the president is looking to come
to Pittsburgh, I would ask that he not
do so while we are burying the dead,”
Peduto said. “Our attention and our
focus is going to be on them, and we
don’t have public safety that we can take
away from what is needed in order to do
both.”
Bowers killed eight men and three
women before a police tactical team
shot him, authorities said. Six other
people were wounded, including four
officers. Four of the wounded remained
hospitalized Sunday night, two in critical
condition.
The president of the hospital where a
wounded Bowers was taken said that he
was ranting against Jews even as Jewish
staff members were treating him.
“He’s taken into my hospital and he’s
shouting, ‘I want to kill all the Jews!’ and
the first three people who are taking
care of him are Jewish,” Jeffery Cohen
of Allegheny General Hospital told
ABC’s “Good Morning America.” ’’Ain’t
that a kick in the pants?”
Cohen, who is also Jewish and a mem
ber of Tree of Life synagogue, said he
stopped by Bowers’ room.
“I just asked how he was doing, was
he in pain, and he said no, he was fine,”
Cohen said. “He asked who I was, and I
said, ‘I’m Dr. Cohen, the president of the
hospital,’ and I turned around and left.”
He said the FBI agent outside Bowers’
room told him he didn’t think he could
have done that. “And I said, ‘If you were
in my shoes I’m sure you could have,”’
Cohen said.
MIAMI — The man suspected of sending pipe bombs to
prominent Democrats and other opponents of President
Donald Trump kept a list of elected officials and others
who investigators believe were intended
targets, an official told The Associated
Press on Monday.
The disclosure came as 56-year-
old Cesar Sayoc made his initial court
appearance in Miami federal court Mon
day, saying little but tearing up, and after
bomb squads were called to a post office
in Atlanta about a suspicious mailing to
CNN similar to the pipe bomb packages
recovered in the case last week.
The official said authorities had recov
ered soldering equipment, a printer, and stamps similar to
those used on the package bombs in the investigation into
Sayoc, who was arrested last week in Florida. Authorities
believe Sayoc was putting explosives together in his van.
The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the ongoing
investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity to the
AP. The official also said that, as part of the investigation,
authorities were scrutinizing Sayoc’s social media posts.
The FBI said via its Twitter account that the recovered
package in Atlanta was “similar in appearance” to the bub
ble-wrapped manila envelopes authorities say were sent
by Sayoc to intended targets from Delaware to California,
including former President Barack Obama, former Secre
tary of State Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Joe
Biden.
CNN President Jeff Zucker says all mail to CNN has been
screened offsite since last week, when a series of package
bombs began appearing around the country. Among them
were two apparent mail bombs sent to CNN.
At least some listed a return address of U.S. Debbie Was-
serman Schultz, former chair of the Democratic National
Committee.
She represents the South Florida district where the for
mer male stripper, pizza driver and strip club DJ lived in an
older van covered with bumper stickers praising Trump,
disparaging Democrats and CNN and showing rifle cross
hairs over liberals like Clinton and filmmaker Michael
Moore.
Sayoc
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