Shackled to wheelchair, synagogue gunman Robert Bowers faces court, as Trump plans visit to grieving Pittsburgh
- Bowers, who faces the death penalty if convicted, acknowledged the 29 charges against him
- Donald Trump is set to visit Pittsburgh on Tuesday, despite some Jewish leaders saying he is not welcome until he ‘fully denounces white nationalism’
Shackled to a wheelchair, the man accused of shooting 11 worshippers to death at a Pittsburgh synagogue made a stony-faced and largely silent appearance on Monday in a federal courtroom, where he was ordered held without bond for the deadliest attack ever on America’s Jewish community.
Robert Bowers, 46, wounded in a gunfight with police on Saturday at the Tree of Life synagogue before his arrest, acknowledged the 29 charges against him, including violation of US civil rights laws in what federal prosecutors are treating as a hate crime.
If convicted, he could face the death penalty. The judge ordered Bowers, who has a history of posting anti-Semitic material online, held in a federal detention centre and assigned a court-appointed defence attorney. His next hearing was set for Thursday.
The synagogue massacre has heightened debate over the rhetoric US President Donald Trump uses, with critics saying it has fostered a climate of political hostility and encouraged right-wing extremism.