Opening statements to begin in Tree of Life Synagogue shooting trial

Mass shooting at Pittsburgh synagogue believed to be deadliest attack on Jewish community in US history

People pay their respects at a makeshift memorial outside the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 2018. AP

Opening statements were scheduled to begin on Tuesday in the federal trial of a man accused of killing 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh Synagogue.

Robert Bowers has pleaded not guilty to 63 federal charges in the 2018 Tree of Life mass shooting and could face the death penalty if convicted. He faces 11 charges each of obstruction of free exercise of religion resulting in death and hate crimes resulting in death, among others.

Mr Bowers is accused of killing 11 people from the three congregations that share the building in the Squirrel Hill neighbourhood of Pittsburgh – Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life.

It is believed to be the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in US history.

Five responding officers were also injured in the shooting.

Mr Bowers was armed with a Colt AR-15 rifle and three Glock .357 handguns as he opened fire on congregants inside the building, shouting anti-Semitic slurs during the attack.

Prosecutors said Mr Bowers “harboured deep, murderous animosity towards all Jewish people” and allege that he had previously made anti-Semitic comments online. In a court filing, prosecutors said he used his Gab social media account to promote “his anti-Semitic views” and to call for “violence against Jews”.

The US Justice Department said that before he entered the Tree of Life Synagogue on October 27, 2018, Mr Bowers wrote the following message on his Gab account: “I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in”.

During the trial, prosecutors may present postmortem records and 911 calls made by the victims of the shooting.

Federal prosecutors rejected an offer from Mr Bowers to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence. Lawyers for Mr Bowers say he suffers from schizophrenia and brain impairments.

Some victims of the shooting remain divided over the potential use of capital punishment, should Mr Bowers be sentenced to death.

Family members of nine of the 11 people killed in the shooting wrote to The Jewish Chronicle, arguing that Mr Bowers deserves the death penalty.

“Our beloved 11 were taken from us in a brutal, cold-blooded act of hatred and violence,” they wrote.

“We … will feel further violated by letting the defendant have the easy way out. His crimes deserve the death penalty.”

Jonathan Perlman, rabbi of the New Light Congregation, wrote a letter to then-attorney general Bill Barr in 2019 arguing for a life sentence without parole

“He should meditate whether taking action on some white supremacist fantasy against Jewish people was really worth it. Let him live with it forever,” Mr Perlman wrote.

The trial is expected to last until July.

The Associated Press contributed to this report