Pittsburgh, pipe-bomber attacks halted mid-terms momentum says Trump

Mr Trump held a rally in Columbia, Missouri on Thursday evening

President Donald Trump has blamed two terror attacks against public figures and worshippers at a synagogue for slowing Republican political momentum.

Speaking at a rally in Missouri on Thursday, Mr Trump said “two maniacs” stopped a “tremendous momentum”.

The president did note that taking care of people was more important.

Mr Trump’s remarks, called callous by critics, come as the country prepares for mid-term elections next week that could shift power on Capitol Hill.

“We did have two maniacs stop a momentum that was incredible, because for seven days nobody talked about the elections,” Mr Trump said during his closing remarks. “It stopped a tremendous momentum.”

He added: “More importantly, we have to take care of our people, and we don’t care about momentum when it comes to a disgrace like just happened to our country.”

“But it did nevertheless stop a certain momentum, and now the momentum is picking up.”

Critics were quick to condemn the president for appearing to care more about the elections than the victims.

Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau called Mr Trump’s remarks “revolting” in a tweet.

Last month, the president had also referenced a slowing Republican momentum thanks to “this ‘Bomb’ stuff”.

Mr Trump has tried to ramp up that momentum among his base by making immigration the key issue of this year’s mid-term elections.

However, despite escalating his rhetoric on the matter – including making controversial statements about amending the constitution via executive order– he has yet to enact any policies.

The 6 November elections could see Republicans cede power in both chambers of Congress, as well as in governorships across the country, to Democrats.

Funerals for the 11 victims of the Pittsburgh shooting have been ongoing since Tuesday

‘Two maniacs’

In the last several weeks, the US has faced the worst anti-Semitic attack in the country’s history as well as pipe-bombs mailed to top Democrats and public figures critical of Mr Trump.

The president did not name the “two maniacs” involved, suspected gunman Robert Bowers and alleged mail bomber Cesar Sayoc.

Rabbi Doris Dyen: ‘I’m broken and I can’t pray’

Mr Bower pleaded not guilty on Thursday to 44 federal violence and hate crime charges.

Last Saturday, Mr Bowers allegedly walked into the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, armed with multiple firearms, and began gunning down worshippers.

Eleven victims were killed and six people, including police officers, were injured in the attack. Mr Bowers told police after he was arrested that he had wanted to kill Jews.

The last of the funerals for the victims will take place on Friday.

US mail bombs: “Everybody thought it was an ice-cream truck”

At the end of October, Mr Sayoc was arrested following a mail bomb spree which saw 14 devices mailed to critics of Mr Trump, including former President Barack Obama and former Secretary Hillary Clinton.

Democrats have said Mr Trump’s violent language towards his opponents incited Mr Sayoc to target those individuals.

Pittsburgh shooting: Trump visits synagogue amid protests – “We didn’t invite you here.”

BBC, 31 October 2018

More than 70,000 people signed an open letter from Pittsburgh-based Jewish leaders saying that President Trump was “not welcome” in the city unless he “fully denounces white nationalism”.

Mr Trump and the first lady spent time looking at tributes to the victims

US President Donald Trump has offered condolences at the Pennsylvania synagogue where 11 Jewish worshippers were shot dead at the weekend.

He was joined by First Lady Melania Trump, his daughter and son-in-law at the Tree of Life temple in Pittsburgh.

Hundreds of protesters gathered on the street chanting slogans against the president.

The visit came as mourners attended the first funerals for victims of the massacre.

The Trumps were greeted on Tuesday by Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who led them inside the temple, where the worst anti-Semitic attack in US history unfolded on Saturday.

At a memorial outside, Mrs Trump placed a flower and the president laid a small stone on a marker for each of the victims.

Kushner, Ivanka Trump and Steven Mnuchin accompanied Mr Trump on the trip

Who accompanied the Trumps?

Mr Trump was joined by his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is Jewish, and his daughter Ivanka, who converted to Judaism when she married Mr Kushner. Both are White House advisers.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is Jewish, also joined the president.

Before his visit, the president condemned anti-Semitism. The alleged gunman was not a Trump supporter.

Anti-Trump protest has drawn more than 1,000 people

Why are there protests?

Critics accuse Mr Trump of fomenting a surge in white nationalist and neo-Nazi activity through divisive rhetoric which has seen him criticise immigrants and Muslims in particular.

Some Jewish figures and Pittsburgh’s Democratic Mayor Bill Peduto opposed the presidential visit.

More than 70,000 people signed an open letter from Pittsburgh-based Jewish leaders saying that President Trump was “not welcome” in the city unless he “fully denounces white nationalism”.

The top four Republican and Democratic congressional leaders declined a White House invitation to join Mr Trump in Pennsylvania.

The White House has rejected any blame over the attack.

Eleven people were killed in a mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue

Members of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community were among about 2,000 demonstrators who held a protest, according to Reuters news agency.

As the president was driven through Pittsburgh, some bystanders made obscene gestures to his motorcade and thumbs-down gestures, reports AP news agency.

As Mr Trump arrived at the synagogue, demonstrators chanted “President Hate, leave our state” and “Words have meaning”.

Protesters marched to the Tree of Life synagogue during President Trump’s visit

They held signs with such slogans as “We build bridges not walls”; “Trump, Renounce White Nationalism Now”; and “Trump’s lies kill”.

During the presidential visit, one protester holding a baby was seen by reporters calling out: “We didn’t invite you here.”

Whose funerals were held on Tuesday?

Earlier on Tuesday, mourners paid their respects to four victims of the massacre.

Brothers David and Cecil Rosenthal, who were aged 54 and 59, were among the first to be buried. They were the youngest victims of the shooting.

During a packed prayer service for the siblings, Rabbi Myers said: “They could illustrate a dictionary definition for ‘pure souls’.”

Daniel Stein, 71, and Jerry Rabinowitz, 66, were also laid to rest.

The Rosenthal brothers, the first to be buried, were the youngest victims of the synagogue shooting

Mr Rabinowitz was a doctor, known for his work with gay men diagnosed with HIV. On Saturday, he was shot and killed after he rushed to help the wounded, his nephew Avishai Ostrin said in an emotional Facebook post.

Support for the community has been pouring in from across the country.

A GoFundMe page created by an Iranian refugee studying in Washington DC, who has no connection to the Pittsburgh community, has already accumulated $900,000 (£700,000) to help rebuild the synagogue and support victims’ families.

Another fund set up by Muslim-American groups to help pay for funeral costs has raised $200,000.

What of the suspected gunman?

Robert Bowers, 46, is now in the custody of US marshals and faces 29 criminal charges.

He was discharged from hospital on Monday after being treated for multiple gunshot wounds.

During his first court appearance on Monday, Bowers waived his detention hearing and requested a public defender, US media reported.

A further hearing has been scheduled for 1 November.

Trump ‘not welcome’ in Pittsburgh after synagogue shooting

City’s Jewish leaders publish open letter to US president demanding that he stops rhetoric against minorities.

A woman pays respects at memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue following Saturday’s shooting [Cathal McNaughton/Reuters]

Jewish leaders in Pittsburgh, including the former president of the Tree of Life synagogue that was targeted in Saturday’s deadly shooting, have said US President Donald Trump is not welcome in the city because of his rhetoric against minorities.

A letter published by Behind the Arc, which describes itself as a movement for progressive Jews, said Trump would not be welcome until he distanced himself from white supremacists.

“For the past three years your words and your policies have emboldened a growing white nationalist movement,” the letter read, addressing the US leader directly.

“You yourself called the murderer evil, but yesterday’s [Saturday’s] violence is the direct culmination of your influence,” it continued.

The group said Trump had “undermined the safety” of Muslims, the LGBTQ community, people of colour, and those with disabilities.

“Yesterday’s massacre is not the first act of terror you incited against a minority group in our country.”

Robert Bowers, the man police say is responsible for the slaying of 11 Jewish worshippers, had blamed a Jewish organisation, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) for helping bring immigrants to the US.

He said HIAS was bringing “invaders” into the country, in posts he made on Gab, a social media network that serves as a sanctuary for far-right activists barred from other sites.

Trump has condemned the killings and Bowers criticised the US president for not hating Jews strongly enough.

Opponents accuse Trump of having contributed to the climate of hate that made the attack possible.

Mourners at a memorial service at the Sailors and Soldiers Memorial Hall of the University of Pittsburgh [Cathal McNaughton/Reuters]

Speaking to CNN after the Behind the Arc letter was issued, Lynette Lederman, the former president of the Tree of Life synagogue said she agreed with the letter.

“I do not welcome this president to this city,” she said, describing the Republican leader as a “purveyor of hate speech”.

“The hypocritical words that come from him tell me nothing.

“We have a very strong leadership in this city, we have a very strong mayor with very strong values, a very strong county executive…we have people who stand by us, who believe in values, not just Jewish values…and those are not the values of this president.”

On Monday, the White House announced that the president and First Lady Melania Trump will visit Pennsylvania on Tuesday “to express the support of the American people and to grieve with the Pittsburgh community”.

Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, the Tree of Life’s spiritual leader who survived the attack, told NBC that he would welcome a visit from Trump, but that “we turn to leaders of our country, and we’ve gotta stop hate … we need to act to tone down the rehtoric”.

Trump slammed for suggesting armed groups would have helped

Trump also drew criticism for saying that the synagogue should have had an armed guard.

“If there was an armed guard inside the temple, they would have been able to stop him,” the president said just hours after the incident.

Trump also called for the death penalty, and he said the shooting looks “definitely like it’s an anti-Semitic crime, and that is something you wouldn’t believe could still be going on”.

According to a 2017 study by Brandeis University, 63 percent of the city’s Squirrel Hill community, where the shooting took place, were a little or somewhat concerned about anti-Semitism. About 18 percent were very much concerned, the study found.

The Anti-Defamation League found that the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the US rose 57 percent in 2017 when compared with the previous year.

Vigils

Communities across the US held ad-hoc vigils over the weekend to mourn those who were killed by Bowers, and more are planned for the week.

US flags were flown at half-mast over public buildings in the capital Washington, DC, and elsewhere to remember the victims.

People mourn the loss of life as they hold a vigil for the victims of Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S [John Altdofer/Reuters]

A multi-faith ceremony in Pittsburgh drew Christian choirs and Islamic groups, who announced they had raised more than $123,000 in a crowdfunding campaign for survivors and relatives of those who died.

A separate GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $609,000 for those affected.

Shannon Watts

✔@shannonrwatts

Americans at a vigil tonight to honor the victims of the mass shooting inside a Pittsburgh synagogue chanted one simple word over and over again:

* vote *#synagogueshooting

11:44 PM – Oct 27, 2018

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SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

How White Supremacist Ideology & Conspiracies Have Fueled U.S. Domestic Terror & Hateful Violence

STORYOCTOBER 30, 2018

Watch Full Show

Domestic terror swept the country last week, when a white gunman stormed a peaceful synagogue in Pittsburgh, killing 11 peaceful worshipers in what has been described as the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history. The attack came a day after an avid Trump supporter in Florida was arrested and charged with mailing bombs to more than a dozen of the president’s prominent critics, and three days after a white gunman fatally shot two African Americans at a grocery store shortly after trying and failing to enter a black church. We speak with Lois Beckett, a senior reporter for The Guardian covering gun policy, criminal justice and the far right in the United States. “The shooter in Pittsburgh was not just anti-Semitic,” Beckett says. “He had been radicalized by white supremacist ideology.”