PA - 11 killed, 6 injured in mass shooting at Pittsburgh Synagogue, 27 Oct 2018 *guilty, death sentence*

[DefenestrationDoll]

What is a hate crime?
A hate crime is a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism — with an added element of bias, according to the FBI.
The bureau explains: “For the purposes of collecting statistics, the FBI has defined a hate crime as a ‘criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.’ Hate itself is not a crime, and the FBI is mindful of protecting freedom of speech and other civil liberties.”

Pittsburgh synagogue shooting: What makes a crime a hate crime?

 

[DefenestrationDoll]

Mayor Bill Peduto said that this was the "darkest day of Pittsburgh's history".
The suspect, Robert Bowers, 46, faces 29 criminal charges over what is thought to be the worst anti-Semitic attack in recent US history. He is still in hospital being treated for multiple gunshot wounds but is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

Survivors relive US synagogue ordeal

Pittsburgh shooting: Who were the victims?

 

[Fairy1]

As the white nationalist movement faltered in the U.S. over the last year, Gab remained one of its safe harbors

“The leadership of the organized movement is in pretty bad straits,” said Heidi Beirich, a spokeswoman for the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit organization that monitors and sometimes sues far-right groups.
But one bright spot has been Gab, a Twitter-like social-media service whose logo is a green frog, which has attracted far-right users for its unwillingness to eject racist users.
Bowers’ account featured neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic memes on his page, and he posted on the site about his plans moments before attacking the synagogue. Bowers was a “verified” user on Gab, which indicates he was likely a “premium” account holder who paid to gain access to special features on the site, which claims more than 700,000 users.

As the white nationalist movement faltered in the U.S. over the last year, Gab remained one of its safe harbors - Los Angeles Times

WTH are these freaks so afraid of? No wonder they believe they need their guns. They're afraid of everything and everyone. Talk about snowflakes!

 

[Fairy1]

What a boring world it would be if we were all the same. What would there be to talk about?

Many of the lovely people who were murdered this week were elderly. In losing them, we lost their wisdom, their life experiences and their stories. What a terrible loss for us all.

 

[EuTuCroquet?]

Please let's not call him the shooter, he is murderer. He knew what he was wrong. His last post on Gab said he didn't care what it looked like.

He is both the shooter and a murderer. Technically, murderer is more of a legal term given to a person convicted of the crime of murder, although there is little doubt that he is guilty since he was caught in the act.

 

[bluesneakers]

Jewish leaders tell Trump he's not welcome in Pittsburgh until he denounces white nationalism

Eleven members of the Pittsburgh affiliate of Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice penned a letter to Trump following the Saturday shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue.

“Our Jewish community is not the only group you have targeted,” the group wrote. “You have also deliberately undermined the safety of people of color, Muslims, LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities. Yesterday’s massacre is not the first act of terror you incited against a minority group in our country.”
..
The group also said Trump is not welcome in the city until he also stops targeting minorities, immigrants and refugees.

The president has “spread lies and sowed fear about migrant families in Central America,” the group wrote.

Letter here:
Letter to President Trump from Pittsburgh Jewish Leaders

 

[margarita25]

Pittsburgh Synagogue Massacre Suspect Was ‘Pretty Much a Ghost’

“PITTSBURGH — Robert Bowers, the man accused of gunning down 11 congregants in a virulently anti-Semitic rampage at a Pittsburgh synagogue, was an isolated, awkward man who lived alone and struggled with basic human interactions, neighbors and others who knew him said on Sunday.

“He was in his own little world,”...”

Robert Bowers’s apartment is one of 11 in McAnulty Acres, a two-story apartment building in the Baldwin Borough neighborhood of Pittsburgh.CreditCreditMichael Henninger for The New York Times

 

[Fairy1]

Pittsburgh Synagogue Massacre Suspect Was ‘Pretty Much a Ghost’

“PITTSBURGH — Robert Bowers, the man accused of gunning down 11 congregants in a virulently anti-Semitic rampage at a Pittsburgh synagogue, was an isolated, awkward man who lived alone and struggled with basic human interactions, neighbors and others who knew him said on Sunday.

“He was in his own little world,”...”

Robert Bowers’s apartment is one of 11 in McAnulty Acres, a two-story apartment building in the Baldwin Borough neighborhood of Pittsburgh.CreditCreditMichael Henninger for The New York Times

InCel? I haven't seen anything about former marriages or relationships - familial or otherwise.

 

[bluesneakers]

InCel? I haven't seen anything about former marriages or relationships - familial or otherwise.

Aren't men who identify as "incel" usually much younger?

 

[margarita25]

'Wonderful People, Good Souls': The Victims Of The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting

“Melvin Wax, 88, also of Squirrel Hill, was a remembered as a pillar of the New Light Congregation.

"He was such a kind, kind person," his friend and fellow congregant Myron Snider told The Associated Press. "When my daughters were younger, they would go to him, and he would help them with their federal income tax every year. Never charged them."”
—

Shooting victim Melvin Wax remembered as 'sweet, sweet guy'

—-

A 97-year-old, an elderly wife and husband: These are the 11 victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre

(ETA: How anyone can shoot a sweet old man like this (or any of these people) is just mind boggling to me, just as it is how anyone can hurt a child, or dog...or any innocent person.)

 

[bluesneakers]

Barack Obama‏ Verified account @BarackObama

We grieve for the Americans murdered in Pittsburgh. All of us have to fight the rise of anti-Semitism and hateful rhetoric against those who look, love, or pray differently. And we have to stop making it so easy for those who want to harm the innocent to get their hands on a gun.
2:54 PM - 27 Oct 2018
Barack Obama on Twitter

 

[Fairy1]

Aren't men who identify as "incel" usually much younger?

No idea! 46. I suppose we'll learn in the days to come. I would like to know what causes a person to be so incredibly hateful.

 

[margarita25]

InCel? I haven't seen anything about former marriages or relationships - familial or otherwise.

Aren't men who identify as "incel" usually much younger?

I had to look this up, never heard of it before:

“Incels are members of an online subculture who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one, a state they describe as inceldom. Self-identified incels are mostly white, male, and heterosexual.”

Incel - Wikipedia

(ETA:
I hadn’t heard of GAB or MEDIUM either before this)

 

[CocoChanel]

Me, too. I think I found it online:


Shooting victims remembered: 'The loss is incalculable'

According to this article about the victims, brothers Cecil and David Rosenthal had disabilities, and were able to live semi-independently through support from Achieva, an organization that provides help with daily living, employment and other needs. The Tree of Life Synagogue was a big part of their world.

I have not shared this before, but I work with adults with intellectual disabilities, and have for years. To learn that Cecil and David were much like my own dear friends at the non-profit I am at every day, has only broken my heart into even smaller pieces. Pulverized it. Somehow, in spite of everything, this injustice and persecution of the most vulnerable, is an even darker realization, if that is possible. The similarities to the Holocaust are just too much.

 

[margarita25]

Shooting Victims Remembered: 'The Loss Is Incalculable'

Personal stories, details, memories.

Heartbreaking.

ETA other links:
Shooting victims remembered: ‘The loss is incalculable’ | The Star

'The loss is incalculable': Pittsburgh shooting victims remembered

Pittsburgh synagogue shooting victims remembered: ‘The loss is incalculable’

“A Pittsburgh Steelers logo with one of the hypocycloids changed to a Star of David is on a banner at Heinz Field for an NFL football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018, in Pittsburgh. The Steelers added the logo in respect for the victims of a deadly shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday.” (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (AP)

 

[Fairy1]

I had to look this up, never heard of it before:

“Incels are members of an online subculture who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one, a state they describe as inceldom. Self-identified incels are mostly white, male, and heterosexual.”

Incel - Wikipedia

(ETA:
I hadn’t heard of GAB or MEDIUM either before this)

The problem is, they're not just "online." They're actually living, maladjusted men walking among us, every day.

 

[margarita25]

Survivors relive US synagogue ordeal

“Survivors of the deadly gun attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue have recalled how they took refuge and hid in storage rooms to avoid the roaming attacker.
One congregation leader said their training in active-shooter situations had helped save lives.“

Snip

“Richard Gottfried, 65, and Daniel Stein, 71, were in the kitchen and both were shot dead. Congregation co-president Stephen Cohen told the paper there was "no place to hide" there.
He said Rabbi Jonathan Perlman had shepherded two other people into a storage room, although one, Melvin Wax, 88, chose to later open the door and was shot dead.
Mr Cohen said "everyone froze but Rabbi Perlman". He told the Associated Press news agency that leaders had taken part in active-shooter drills "and I think that's what ultimately saved the people who were saved".
Worshipper Joseph Charny, 90, said he saw a man appear at the door and heard shots. He told the Washington Post: "I looked up and there were all these dead bodies." He said he and two others hid in an upstairs storage room until it was safe to come out.“

 

[margarita25]

What a boring world it would be if we were all the same. What would there be to talk about?

Many of the lovely people who were murdered this week were elderly. In losing them, we lost their wisdom, their life experiences and their stories. What a terrible loss for us all.

It hurts my heart to think about these poor elderly folks in panic and fear for their lives and for their loved ones. After all these years for them to die like this.

I hope that somehow, some way, that in their last moments they felt some kind of comfort in that place that was so special to them.

 

[Indy Anna]

It hurts my heart to think about these poor elderly folks in panic and fear for their lives. After all these years for them to die like this.

I hope that somehow, some way, that in their last moment they felt some kind of comfort in that place that was so special to them.

And it especially hurts knowing these people had lived in this country so long in safety, free to live their lives according to their beliefs. Many of the victims likely had family members who were victims of the holocaust. Then this happens in a place where they always felt secure. Unthinkable.

 

[margarita25]

And it especially hurts knowing these people had lived in this country so long in safety, free to live their lives according to their beliefs. Many of the victims likely had family members who were victims of the holocaust. Then this happens in a place where they always felt secure. Unthinkable.

(Despicable. I’m so angry and probably should take blood pressure medication before his court appearance tomorrow.)

—-

ETA: I have read a lot and watched a A Looooooot of Hitler documentaries. I’m sure some of you guys have too.

—-

So who will it be tomorrow?

Active Shooter | Ready.gov

“This page describes what to do if you find yourself in an active shooting event, how to recognize signs of potential violence around you, and what to expect after an active shooting takes place. Remember during an active shooting to RUN. HIDE. FIGHT.“