The junior congregation met on the third Saturday of the month at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. On those days, he claimed, a group of students would meet in the lobby before heading into the sanctuary for services led by Stephen Weiss, a public school teacher and synagogue youth leader.
The Saturday of October 27, 2018 was not like that. On Thursday, during the federal hate crimes trial of the man accused of storming into the synagogue that day and killing 11 people and hurting numerous more, the astonishing coincidence was disclosed in court.
Robert Bowers, 50, has been charged with 63 offences, including m*rder and hate crimes, and has pled not guilty to all allegations. The prosecution claims he committed the crime out of animosity for Jews and their apparent support for a refugee aid organization.
The defense has acknowledged his guilt for the crime but has raised doubts about his state of mind during opening comments. If Bowers is found guilty, the trial will go to the punishment phase, when the jury will deliberate whether or not to impose a de@th sentence.
Harrowing testimony from survivors of the synagogue shooting has been presented over the course of three days at the trial. Weiss testified on Thursday that on the day of the shooting, he heard a “loud crashing sound” that he initially attributed to the unintentional breaking of a dish or glass.
The below tweet verifies the news:
Three Saturdays each month, Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue hosted a service specifically for children. October 27, 2018, was not one of those Saturdays — revealed during the federal hate crimes trial of the man accused in the shooting that day. https://t.co/d8u5meff0a
— CNN (@CNN) June 1, 2023
Weiss heard four or five gunfire after Irving Younger and Cecil Rosenthal left the room to aid. “To me, it sounded like a semi-automatic weapon,” and the casing looked like a long gun, he said. “As I was standing in the door, I could see (shell casings) bounce on the floor directly in front of me.”
During his escape, he walked downstairs to alert the others and then made his way outside. Since then, Tree of Light has occasionally had problems gathering the required 10 individuals for prayers on Shabbat, resulting in incomplete services. When asked why there isn’t a bigger turnout, Weiss said, “because they’ve been killed.”
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