A United States federal jury has issued a death sentence to the perpetrator of a hate crime in Pittsburgh. The attack has been described as the deadliest ever done on Jewish people, as the criminal, Robert Bowers, killed 11 people and wounded six in a synagogue located in the city of Pittsburgh. The event took place in October 2018, and his sentence came on Wednesday, August 2.
About the attack, witnesses Audrey Glickman stated that “It wasn’t just spraying bullets into people in a synagogue, it was viciously murdering each individual up close and personal.” He later added that there was nothing happy about the sentence and affirmed that:
“There really is nothing happy. There was a crime committed and there was a criminal sentenced. There is no happy in those two negatives, but the chapter is closed.”
The sentence required a unanimous vote from the jury members so that the death penalty could be implemented after the man was found guilty of 63 charges from the hate crime in the synagogue. If the penalty had not been approved, he would have been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
This anti-Semitic crime has gone on to become the worst one in the history of the United States. The shooter murdered 11 people, who ranged from 54 to 97 years old. Additionally, six other people were injured, including five local police officers who responded to the attack.
Relatives of people who died as a result of the attack expressed their full support to the sentence the jury applied. Also, several journalists present in the courtroom commented that the perpetrator showed no reaction to the reading of his final verdict.