Robert Bowers, Shooter Who Killed 11 at Synagogue, Quoted the Bible, Talked About Jesus Christ
Robert Bowers, the man who killed 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, quoted from the Bible and talked about Jesus Christ online as part of this rhetoric against Jewish people.
Although the social media profiles for Bowers, 46, have been taken down following the massacre on Saturday at the Tree of Life synagogue, Heavy.com and other websites have shared archives exposing his rants against Jewish and Muslim people.
"HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I'm going in," he allegedly wrote on Gab minutes before the shooting, referring to a Hebrew immigrant group.
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Last week, he wrote: "Daily Reminder: Diversity means chasing down the last white person." His profile photo caption read, "Jews are the children of Satan. (John 8:44,)" adding "the lord Jesus Christ is come in the flesh."
The Bible verse in question, which the shooter interprets refers to Jewish people, reads in full: "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
The meaning and context of the verse continues being debated in Christian circles, though a lengthy analysis in Catholic Culture offers that Jesus' words are not trying to depict all Jewish people as evil.
"The 'devil talk' of the New Testament is not meant to say that there is something uniquely wicked about Jews but to pound home the doctrine that all humans are bound by original sin, that mere ethnicity cannot save, and that baptism is the sacrament that frees us from sin," the article states.
In other comments online, Bowers revealed that he does not support Donald Trump, since the U.S. president supports Jewish people.
"Trump is a globalist, not a nationalist. There is no #MAGA as long as there is a [slur referring to Jewish people] infestation. #Qanon is here to get patriots that were against martial law in the 90's to be the ones begging for it now to drain muh swamp. But go ahead and keep saying you are #Winning," he posted.
Trump strongly condemned the attack on the synogogue in a Saturday Twitter statement.
"All of America is in mourning over the mass murder of Jewish Americans at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. We pray for those who perished and their loved ones, and our hearts go out to the brave police officers who sustained serious injuries," the president wrote.
"This evil Anti-Semitic attack is an assault on humanity. It will take all of us working together to extract the poison of Anti-Semitism from our world. We must unite to conquer hate," he added.
Christian leaders have also stood in solidarity with Jewish people, calling for prayers.
Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, declared on his website that "if you hate Jews, you hate Jesus."
"We groan anytime an innocent human life is taken. We weep every time there is a murderous terrorist attack. We should do so this time as well. But we should also make very clear that those who carry out such repulsive attacks on the Jewish people is an attack on the image of God, an attack on Jesus as a son of Adam," the ethicist wrote.
"But such attacks are, even more specifically, an attack on Jesus as a son of Abraham. When you lash out at a synagogue's rabbi, you are attacking our Rabbi as well," he added.
Reuters meanwhile reported that 2,500 people attended a memorial service on Sunday morning for the 11 victims in Pittsburgh.
"What happened yesterday will not break us. It will not ruin us. We will continue to thrive and sing and worship and learn together and continue our historic legacy in the city with the friendliest people that I know," Rabbi Jonathan Perlman said.
