Prosecutors ask judge to reject Pittsburgh synagogue shooter's request for retrial
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Federal prosecutors say a judge should reject the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter's request for an acquittal and a retrial in the murder of 11 innocent worshippers in Squirrel Hill five years ago.
In a 124-page filing, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Pittsburgh said Robert Bowers' request for a new trial is based almost entirely on his claim that his rampage killing was not a hate crime.
In their post-trial motion, his attorneys said he was driven not by antisemitism but an opposition to the work of HIAS, a Jewish refugee resettlement agency.
But federal prosecutors cited numerous instances of the shooter calling Jews "the children of Satan" and other examples of his antisemitism, saying, "The jury's decision was both rational and supported by overwhelming evidence - including over 600 exhibits and testimony from scores of survivors, experts, and law enforcement officers - all of which established beyond any reasonable doubt that the defendant killed every Jewish worshipper at a specific time and place where they were actively practicing their faith because he disagreed with their adherence to the religious tenets of Judaism."
Bowers is currently awaiting execution on federal death row in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was sentenced to death last year after a jury found him guilty of shooting and killing 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill on Oct. 27, 2018. It was the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.