National, Regional and Local News

[ti-amie]

Gunman who killed 11 in Pittsburgh synagogue sentenced to death

By David Nakamura
Updated August 2, 2023 at 2:55 p.m. EDT|Published August 2, 2023 at 12:16 p.m. EDT

PITTSBURGH — The gunman who massacred 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018 was sentenced Wednesday to death, a federal-court decision that came nearly five years after the highest-casualty antisemitic attack in the nation’s history.

A 12-person federal jury reached its unanimous decision for Robert G. Bowers, 50, of Baldwin, Pa., after a tw0-month trial in which anguished survivors described the mass shooting on Oct. 27, 2018, in terrifying detail.

In addition to killing a total of 11 members of all three congregations that shared the synagogue — Tree of Life, Dor Hadash and New Light — Bowers wounded two other congregants and several police officers.

“Each death is enough on its own. The weight of all that loss is more than enough,” Eric Olshan, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, said in his closing statement Monday. “The defendant was proud he carried out the worst mass shooting against Jews in U.S. history. Weigh it — and when you’re done, impose the only punishment that is sufficient under our law: A sentence of death.”

Bowers became the first person condemned to death by a federal jury since 2019, and the first under Attorney General Merrick Garland, who has taken steps to reduce capital punishment prosecutions and shortly after taking office in 2021 placed a moratorium on federal executions.

Garland said the Justice Department is reviewing changes made to federal death penalty procedures during the Trump administration, which executed 13 inmates in the final seven months of Donald Trump’s presidency.

The Justice Department filed capital charges against Bowers in 2019, during the Trump administration, and federal prosecutors affirmed the decision after reviewing the case when Garland took office two years later, people involved in the process said.

Prosecutors said during the Pittsburgh trial that the gunman planned to kill as many Jewish people as possible and was motivated by a deep-seated antisemitism. Bowers’s defense team did not dispute that he carried out the crimes, but said he suffered from mental illness and had a troubled personal history that made it difficult for him to think rationally.

Jurors had convicted Bowers in mid-June on 63 hate-crime and gun-related counts. In capital cases, juries are required to deliver a separate verdict after additional testimony in a penalty phase of the trial. The Pittsburgh jury deliberated for more than nine hours over two days before reaching a unanimous decision, as required for a death sentence in a federal case.

District Judge Robert J. Colville asked Bowers to stand as the verdict was read. Lead defense attorney, Judy Clarke, then asked the judge to poll jurors individually to confirm their decision. Bowers did not look at the jurors as they affirmed their votes.

Colville will hold a sentencing hearing for Bowers on Thursday, court officials said.

The verdict offered some justice for the victims’ families, survivors and others throughout the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, where the synagogue has remained closed since the attack.

Family members and Jewish leaders were present each day of the trial at the Joseph F. Weis Jr. federal courthouse. Many of them testified about the devastation Bowers caused and the loved ones whose lives were cut short. Bowers sat next to his lawyers each day of the trial but he did not testify.

Those killed were: Rose Mallinger, 97; Bernice Simon, 84, and her husband, Sylvan Simon, 86; brothers David Rosenthal, 54, and Cecil Rosenthal, 59; Dan Stein, 71; Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz, 66; Joyce Fienberg, 75; Melvin Wax, 87; Irving Younger, 69; and Richard Gottfried, 65.

Those who survived being shot included Dan Leger and Andrea Wedner, Mallinger’s daughter, as well as law enforcement officers Dan Mead, Timothy Matson and Anthony Burke. Matson, who spent 16 weeks in the hospital and has had 25 surgeries, was shot in an arm and both legs and testified at the trial that he felt suicidal while trying to recover.

Mallinger’s relatives said in a statement Wednesday that they felt a measure of justice had been served.

“This sentence is a testament to our justice system and a message to all that this type of heinous act will not be tolerated," the family said in the statement. "Returning a sentence of death is not a decision that comes easy, but we must hold accountable those who wish to commit such terrible acts of antisemitism, hate, and violence.”

Bowers was shot as police apprehended him after a shootout in a classroom on the third floor of the synagogue.

During closing arguments Monday, prosecutors showed gruesome crime scene photos of the victims lying in pools of blood in the synagogue, juxtaposing those images with other photos of the victims in moments of joy — during their weddings or playing with their children and grandchildren.

Bowers’s attorneys presented testimony from neurologists who said he showed signs of mental illness.

Bowers was committed to a psychiatric facility as a youth after trying to harm himself, including overdosing on pain relievers. His attorneys said in court that his father committed suicide, his mother was emotionally abusive, and Bowers struggled to overcome a difficult childhood. He bounced from one job to another as an adult and ultimately embraced hateful conspiracy theories about Jews and immigrants, his attorneys said.

Bowers “didn’t know safety as a baby, he didn’t know safety as a toddler, he didn’t know safety as a teenager,” defense attorney Judy Clarke told jurors in her closing argument. “He was mentally ill as a child … and he ultimately descended into serious mental illness as an adult and committed serious crimes. What a tragedy that was. But is that who we kill?”

Prosecutors discounted suggestions that Bowers suffered from schizophrenia and epilepsy, saying he has not been medicated during his time in federal custody and has not suffered psychotic episodes or seizures.

They presented evidence that he was an active user of the Gab social media site, where he liked and reposted hundreds of antisemitic memes, including about the Holocaust. Bowers told officials after the shooting that he considered putting two victims killed in a kitchen into the oven, prosecutors said.

“This defendant is 50 years old. He’s an adult and he committed horrific murders when he was 46. He’s not an impressionable teen,” federal prosecutor Troy Rivetti told jurors. He emphasized that Bowers has showed no remorse for his crimes. “The defendant does not have schizophrenia. You know what’s inside his mind — it’s filled with hate and common white supremacist and antisemitic tropes.”

An execution date for Bowers remained undetermined. His lawyers are expected to file appeals that could take years to resolve.

Bowers joins 40 other people on federal death row. Other mass killers have filed numerous appeals and remain on death row years after their attacks, including 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev and Dylann Roof, who fatally shot nine Black parishioners in a Charleston, S.C., church in 2015.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... ce-bowers/

[ponchi101]

I still oppose the death penalty. This will cost taxpayers an enormous amount of money.
Just life without parole. Let him waste away.

[Owendonovan]

Police Seek 17-Year-Old Suspect in Dancer O’Shae Sibley's Stabbing Death
As friends and family remember slain dancer O’Shea Sibley, police are looking for a 17-year-old male they believe was captured on video fatally stabbing the dancer and activist at a gas station near Coney Island late Saturday evening. The case is also being investigated as a potential hate crime by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force.

Sibley was stabbed to death around 11:15 p.m. on Saturday, July 29 at a gas station in Milford. Witnesses said the suspect claimed to be Muslim, and that the suspect said Sibley's spontaneous voguing while wearing only a bathing suit at the gas pump offended him and his religion. The suspect stabbed Sibley following an exchange of words. He then fled the scene while Sibley collapsed on the sidewalk mortally wounded.

Witnesses said the men claimed to be Muslim and forcefully said Sibley’s dancing was an insult to Islam. They reportedly hurled anti-LGBTQ+ slurs at Sibley and his friends, and harsh words were exchanged. A physical altercation broke out and Sibley was stabbed in the torse. He walked a few steps before collapsing on the sidewalk. Police arrived a short time later, but Sibley was declared dead at the hospital.
The entire incident was captured on the gas station’s surveillance camera.
“They hated us cause we are gay!” Sibley’s friend Otis Pena posted to Facebook. “Screaming we Muslim and we don’t like gays!!!!! As we are innocently pumping gas and y’all decided to stab one of us!!!”
Police described the suspect as a 17-year-old male with dark hair last seen wearing a black shirt and red shorts.
https://www.advocate.com/crime/oshea-sibley-suspect

Religion? Gay panic? Twinkies? All successful defenses for violence and murder against gay people. Looks like this kid will going with bastardized religion for someone vogueing, VOGUEING. This country is trying to put too many babies in the corner.

[ti-amie]

Police Seek 17-Year-Old Suspect in Dancer O’Shae Sibley's Stabbing Death
As friends and family remember slain dancer O’Shea Sibley, police are looking for a 17-year-old male they believe was captured on video fatally stabbing the dancer and activist at a gas station near Coney Island late Saturday evening. The case is also being investigated as a potential hate crime by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force.

Sibley was stabbed to death around 11:15 p.m. on Saturday, July 29 at a gas station in Milford. Witnesses said the suspect claimed to be Muslim, and that the suspect said Sibley's spontaneous voguing while wearing only a bathing suit at the gas pump offended him and his religion. The suspect stabbed Sibley following an exchange of words. He then fled the scene while Sibley collapsed on the sidewalk mortally wounded.

Witnesses said the men claimed to be Muslim and forcefully said Sibley’s dancing was an insult to Islam. They reportedly hurled anti-LGBTQ+ slurs at Sibley and his friends, and harsh words were exchanged. A physical altercation broke out and Sibley was stabbed in the torse. He walked a few steps before collapsing on the sidewalk. Police arrived a short time later, but Sibley was declared dead at the hospital.
The entire incident was captured on the gas station’s surveillance camera.
“They hated us cause we are gay!” Sibley’s friend Otis Pena posted to Facebook. “Screaming we Muslim and we don’t like gays!!!!! As we are innocently pumping gas and y’all decided to stab one of us!!!”
Police described the suspect as a 17-year-old male with dark hair last seen wearing a black shirt and red shorts.
https://www.advocate.com/crime/oshea-sibley-suspect

Religion? Gay panic? Twinkies? All successful defenses for violence and murder against gay people. Looks like this kid will going with bastardized religion for someone vogueing, VOGUEING. This country is trying to put too many babies in the corner.

[Owendonovan]

This kid was failed miserably by his family, friends, and likely his religion. Pathetic.

Teenager (17 yo) Is Charged in Killing of Dancer at Brooklyn Gas Station
He faces a charge of second-degree murder, which has been charged as a hate crime, in the fatal stabbing of Mr. Sibley, a gay man, last week.
The teenager, whom the police did not name, lives in Brooklyn and was identified by the police earlier this week using video and by working with other city agencies, Mr. Kenny said. The suspect turned himself in through an arrangement with his lawyer, Mr. Kenny added. He has been charged with second-degree murder, which has been charged as a hate crime, and with criminal possession of a weapon.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/05/nyre ... arges.html

[ponchi101]

This kid was failed miserably by his family, friends, and likely his religion. Pathetic.

Teenager (17 yo) Is Charged in Killing of Dancer at Brooklyn Gas Station
He faces a charge of second-degree murder, which has been charged as a hate crime, in the fatal stabbing of Mr. Sibley, a gay man, last week.
The teenager, whom the police did not name, lives in Brooklyn and was identified by the police earlier this week using video and by working with other city agencies, Mr. Kenny said. The suspect turned himself in through an arrangement with his lawyer, Mr. Kenny added. He has been charged with second-degree murder, which has been charged as a hate crime, and with criminal possession of a weapon.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/05/nyre ... arges.html

Whom, most likely, also belong to the same religion, so the root can be established.
But I admit my bias on that subject.

[ti-amie]

Update on the Riverboat Brawl that took place in Mobile, Alabama.

philip lewis
@phil_lewis_@bird.makeup
Montgomery, Alabama authorities address the brawl:

- The captain of the riverboat remained away from the dock for 40-45 minutes because the private boat was blocking
- The owners of the boat confronted the co-captain of the riverboat, were obscene and aggressive. “He was doing his job.”
- 13 people were detained, but were ultimately released.
- Richard Roberts , 48, white male, warrant for assault 3rd
- Allen Todd, white male, one warrant pending
- Zachary Shipman, 25, white male, one warrant pending
- These are misdemeanor charges
- All of the warrants are for the owners of the private boat.
-One is in custody, two are set to turn themselves in.
- Reggie Gray, the man wielding the folding chair, is being asked to contact the police department.
-The investigation is ongoing and more charges are likely.

[ti-amie]

I think Mr. Gray should only show up when he has a lawyer. After all this is Alabama...

[ti-amie]

Utah Man Killed in Shooting Involving F.B.I. Agents
The man who was killed was not named, but court records show that a Provo man was facing charges for making death threats against President Biden.


Law enforcement officers at the scene of a fatal shooting involving F.B.I. agents in Provo, Utah, on Wednesday morning.Credit...Laura Seitz/The Deseret News, via Associated Press

By Jesus Jiménez
Aug. 9, 2023, 4:24 p.m. ET
Hours before President Biden was scheduled to speak in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, a man was killed in a shooting involving F.B.I. agents in Provo, Utah.

The F.B.I. did not name the man, but court documents indicate that a Provo man was facing charges for death threats he had made against President Biden and Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney.

The F.B.I. said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon that it was investigating an “agent-involved shooting” that had happened around 6:15 a.m. in Provo while special agents were trying to serve arrest and search warrants at a home.

A White House official said that Mr. Biden had been briefed on the matter on Wednesday.

Court documents show that the Provo man was facing one count of interstate threats, one count of threats against the president and another count of influencing, impeding and retaliating against federal law enforcement officers by threat, according to a felony complaint filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.

Online posts made by the man said that he intended to kill President Biden and Mr. Bragg, who is leading the prosecution of former President Donald J. Trump in New York, according to the complaint, which included several screenshots of the man’s online posts.

In a Facebook post on Sept. 19, 2022, the man wrote that “the time is right for a presidential assassination or two.”

“First Joe then Kamala,” he wrote, referring to Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

In another online post, referring to Mr. Bragg, the man wrote that he wanted “to stand over Bragg and put a nice hole in his forehead with my 9mm and watch him twitch as a drop of blood oozes from the hole as his life ebbs away to hell!”

Zolan Kanno-Youngs contributed reporting.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/09/us/f ... ticleShare

[ti-amie]

They're going to jail for this man, dying for this man who could care less about them. I don't understand it.

[ponchi101]

They're going to jail for this man, dying for this man who could care less about them. I don't understand it.

Well said.
Of course, it is NOT a cult.

[ti-amie]

Barack Obama

@BarackObama
It’s tough to see some of the images coming out of Hawai’i — a place that’s so special to so many of us. Michelle and I are thinking of everyone who has lost a loved one, or whose life has been turned upside down.

If you’d like to help, you can do so here.
http://hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/maui-strong

[ti-amie]

If you don't know what he's referencing:





This town was the Imperial Capital of the Hawaiian Islands.

[ti-amie]

Victor Shi
@Victorshi2020

Wow: A chilling moment from Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin: "Starting today for the first time in the history of the DoD, three of our military services are operating without Senate confirmed leaders. This is unprecedented, it is unnecessary, & it is unsafe."

[Owendonovan]

Victor Shi
@Victorshi2020

Wow: A chilling moment from Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin: "Starting today for the first time in the history of the DoD, three of our military services are operating without Senate confirmed leaders. This is unprecedented, it is unnecessary, & it is unsafe."

Thanks idiotic southern football culture!