Washington: The gunman who carried out the 2018 mass shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh — the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history — has been found guilty on all the 63 charges levelled against him.
Following Friday’s verdict by a federal jury, 50-year-old Robert Bowers now faces the possibility of a death sentence, reports CNN.
When asked to individually confirm their verdicts, each juror answered “yes” without hesitation after deliberated for about five hours over two days.
Bowers was convicted of 11 capital counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death and 11 capital counts of use of a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a crime of violence, among other charges.
He was also convicted of 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death.
The convictions mean the trial will move to a separate penalty phase, with the jury weighing further evidence to decide whether to sentence him to death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The penalty phase is scheduled to begin June 26.
Eight men and three women — ranging in age from 54 to 97 — died in the attack inside the Tree of Life synagogue on October 27, 2018.
In April, a report by the US-based Anti-Defamation League revealed that the number of antisemitic incidents in the country had increased by more than 35 per cent in the past year, from 2,721 in 2021 to 3,697 in 2022.
Antisemitic hate crimes spiked in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — home to the country’s three largest Jewish populations, according to the police.
–IANS
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