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Draft:Robert Bowers (Mass Murderer)

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Robert Bowers Bowers
Born
Robert Gregory Bowers

(1972-09-04) September 4, 1972 (age 52)
Known forPerpetrator of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
MotiveAntisemitism, belief in the white genocide conspiracy theory
Details
DateOctober 27, 2018; 6 years ago (2018-10-27)
9:54 a.m. - 11:08 a.m. EDT
Location(s)Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation,
5898 Wilkins Avenue,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Target(s)Jewish people
Killed11
Injured6
Weapons

Robert Gregory Bowers (born September 4, 1972), is an American mass murderer who perpetrated the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in 2018 which resulted in the deaths of eleven people and injuring six others, including several holocaust survivors.[3][failed verification]

Bowers was sentenced to death on his federal charges on August 3, 2023, nearly four years after the attack.[4] He is awaiting his state trial in which he is charged with 11 counts of criminal homicide, six counts of aggravated assault, six counts of attempted criminal homicide, and 13 counts of ethnic intimidation.[5] The state charges were held in abeyance pending the federal trial.[6]

Early Life

[edit]

Prior to the attack, Bowers was a resident of Baldwin, Pennsylvania[7][8][9] Bowers's parents divorced when he was about one year old.[10] His father, Randall Bowers, died by suicide in October 1979 at the age of 26 while he was awaiting trial on a rape charge,[11] when Bowers was 7 years old.[10][11][12] Bowers's mother remarried, with the family living in Florida before the couple separated one year later.[10]

Upon their return to Pennsylvania, Robert and his mother lived with his mother's parents in Whitehall, a suburb of Pittsburgh. His maternal grandparents took responsibility for raising him because his mother suffered from health problems.[10] Bowers attended Baldwin High School in the Baldwin-Whitehall School District from August 1986 to November 1989. He dropped out of high school before graduation and worked as a trucker.[13][14] Neighbors described Bowers as "a ghost" who rarely interacted with others.[7]

According to accounts which were given by Bowers's coworkers, and analysis of his recent social media posts, his conservatism became radicalized as white nationalism; at one point Bowers was fascinated by the right-wing radio host Jim Quinn.[15] At a later time he became a follower of "aggressive online provocateurs of the right wing's fringe."[16] He was deeply involved in posting comments on social media websites such as Gab and he also promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories on them.[17] Bowers routinely discussed a conspiracy theory that Jews were assisting "evil Muslims" to take over the United States together.[18]

Gab has been described as friendly to neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and the alt-right.[19] Bowers registered his Gab profile in January 2018 under the handle "onedingo"; he described his account by the following: "Jews are the children of Satan (John 8:44). The Lord Jesus Christ [has] come in the flesh." The cover picture was a photo with the number 1488, which is used by neo-Nazis and white supremacists to evoke David Lane's "Fourteen Words" and the Nazi slogan Heil Hitler. Bowers published posts that supported the white genocide conspiracy theory, such as one that said, "Daily Reminder: Diversity means chasing down the last white person".[20] Bowers said that supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory were "deluded" and being tricked.[21][22][23]

Bowers was very active on social media, posting his own similar antisemitic and racist rants. He often re-posted content by other similarly minded users, such as Patrick Little, who expressed antisemitic, neo-Nazi, white nationalist/supremacist thoughts and denied the Holocaust. In addition, he reposted comments in support of the four men behind the beating of DeAndre Harris and the Southern California-based alt-right fight club Rise Above Movement (RAM) in the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. RAM was later arrested by the FBI and convicted at trial for violence against counter-demonstrators. Bowers also posted comments in support of the "Western chauvinist" Proud Boys led by Gavin McInnes, who were arrested the same month for engaging in a fight with Antifa outside the Metropolitan Republican Club in New York City.[24][25][26][27][28][29]

His posts on Gab mentioned that he was initially a supporter of US president Donald Trump.[24] Bowers felt that Trump was not extreme enough, and he criticized him as "globalist, not a nationalist"[30] and for supposedly being surrounded by and controlled by Jews.[31]

Bowers also denounced African Americans with racial slurs and images which are related to lynchings, and he also denounced white women who have relationships with black men.[32] He used his online accounts to post conspiracy theories regarding philanthropist George Soros.[33] The Times said that security sources had alleged that Bowers had links to the far-right and neo-Nazis in the United Kingdom.[34]

A month before the attack, Bowers posted photos of results of his target practice. He also posted a photo of his three handguns, calling them his "glock family".[27] In the post, he identified the .357 SIG handguns as Glock 31, Glock 32, and Glock 33.[26]

Bowers coordinated with Brad Griffin (aka Hunter Wallace) of Occidental Dissent, an alt-right associated blogger and member of League of the South on doxxing an unidentified left-wing blogger. Bowers wrote "that address is not the most current for him. I can get you the most recent outside of gab".[35] League of the South was one of the organizations that participated in the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville.[35]

In the weeks before the shooting, Bowers made antisemitic posts directed at the HIAS-sponsored[36][37] National Refugee Shabbat[38] of October 19–20, in which Dor Hadash[39] participated. He claimed Jews were aiding members of Central American caravans moving toward the United States border and referred to those migrants as "invaders".[40] Shortly before the attack, he posted on Gab that "HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I'm going in."[41][42][9] According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, "the mention of 'optics' references a disagreement that has raged within the white nationalist movement since the Unite the Right rally in 2017 about how best to get their message across to the general public".[43]

After the shooting, Gab suspended Bowers's profile and pledged to cooperate with the criminal investigation.[21][29] Shortly after the attack, PayPal, Stripe, Joyent, and Medium pulled their support for Gab, and GoDaddy, under which the Gab domains were registered, required Gab to relocate their domain name hosting to a different service, effectively shutting Gab down in the short term.[44]




References

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  1. ^ a b "What we know about Robert Bowers, suspect in mass shooting at Pittsburgh synagogue". WPXI. October 28, 2018. Archived from the original on October 29, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT-counts-20181027+note was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Ailworth, Erin; Hagerty, James R. (October 28, 2018). "Pittsburgh Shooting Suspect Described as Man Who Kept to Himself – Robert G. Bowers was active on social media, but few recall him in person; 'very unremarkable, normal—which is scary' says one neighbor". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 29, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  4. ^ "Pittsburgh synagogue gunman has been sentenced to die in the nation's deadliest antisemitic attack". AP NEWS. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT-counts-20181027 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fortin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b Gabriel, Trip (October 28, 2018). "Pittsburgh Synagogue Massacre Suspect Was 'Pretty Much a Ghost'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 29, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  8. ^ Turkewitz, Julie; Roose, Kevin (October 27, 2018). "Who Is Robert Bowers, the Suspect in the Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Ward, Paula; Lord, Rich; Navratil, Liz (October 27, 2018). "29 federal charges filed against shooting suspect Robert Bowers". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  10. ^ a b c d Balingit, Moriah; St. Martin, Victoria; Berman, Mark (November 2, 2018). "As questions linger about Pittsburgh suspect, details emerge from his early life". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 4, 2018. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
  11. ^ a b Ward, Paula Reed; Navratil, Liz; Lord, Rich (November 1, 2018). "Judge seals old criminal case file for presumed father of Pittsburgh synagogue shooting suspect". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on November 5, 2018. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
  12. ^ Healy, Jack; Turkewitz, Julie (November 2, 2018). "Man Said to Be Pittsburgh Suspect's Father Killed Himself Amid 1979 Rape Case". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 5, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  13. ^ Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Nov 1, 2018. "A high school dropout and trucker, Robert Bowers left few footprints — except online"[1] Archived October 31, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ New York Times, Oct 28, 2018, "Pittsburgh Synagogue Massacre Suspect Was 'Pretty Much a Ghost'" [2] Archived October 30, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ "From nonpartisan voter to virulent extremist: The undoing of Robert Bowers". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on December 5, 2022. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  16. ^ "How Robert Bowers went from conservative to white nationalist". post-gazette.com. Archived from the original on November 21, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  17. ^ "Tree of Life shooting: How the rise of conspiracy theory politics emboldens antisemitism". Vox. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  18. ^ Beckett, Lois (2018-10-27). "Pittsburgh shooting: suspect railed against Jews and Muslims on site used by 'alt-right'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  19. ^ Roose, Kevin (October 28, 2018). "On Gab, an Extremist-Friendly Site, Pittsburgh Shooting Suspect Aired His Hatred in Full". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  20. ^ Renshaw, Jarriett (October 27, 2018). "Who is Robert Bowers, the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting suspect?". Reuters. Archived from the original on October 13, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  21. ^ a b Beckett, Lois (October 27, 2018). "Pittsburgh shooting: suspect railed against Jews and Muslims on site used by 'alt-right'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  22. ^ Gormly, Kellie B.; Selk, Avi; Achenbach, Joel; Berman, Mark; Horton, Alex (October 27, 2018). "Suspect in Pittsburgh synagogue shooting charged with 29 counts in deaths of 11 people". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  23. ^ "Pittsburgh shooting: What we know so far". BBC News. October 28, 2018. Archived from the original on October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  24. ^ a b "Deadly Shooting at Pittsburgh Synagogue". Anti-Defamation League. October 27, 2018. Archived from the original on January 19, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2019. First Trump came for the Charlottesville 4 but I kept supporting Trump because he is a better candidate than Hillary Clinton. Then Trump came for RAM but I kept supporting Trump because he is better than Hillary Clinton. Then Trump came for the Proud Boys but I kept supporting Trump because he is better than Hillary Clinton. Then Trump came for me and there was no one left to support
  25. ^ Silverstein, Jason (October 29, 2018). "Robert Bowers, Pittsburgh shooting suspect, was avid poster of anti-Semitic content on Gab". CBS News. Archived from the original on January 22, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  26. ^ a b McBride, Jessica (October 27, 2018). "Robert Bowers: See Squirrel Hill Suspect's Social Media". Heavy.com. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  27. ^ a b "Anti-Semitic social media posts may hold clues in fatal Pittsburgh shooting". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Reuters. October 27, 2018. Archived from the original on October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  28. ^ Kalmbacher, Colin (October 27, 2018). "Who is Synagogue Shooting Suspect Robert Bowers?". Law and Crime. Archived from the original on November 21, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  29. ^ a b Lorenz, Taylor (October 27, 2018). "The Pittsburgh Suspect's Internet of Hate". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  30. ^ Kwong, Jessica (October 27, 2018). "Who is Robert Bowers? Suspect identified in the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue shooting". Newsweek. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  31. ^ Politi, Daniel (October 27, 2018). "Synagogue Shooting Suspect Robert Bowers Appears to be Anti-Semite Who Hates Trump". Slate. Archived from the original on October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  32. ^ Raymond, Adam K. "What We Know About Robert Bowers, Alleged Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter". Intelligencer. Archived from the original on October 29, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  33. ^ Weill, Kelly (October 27, 2018). "Pittsburgh Synagogue Suspect Robert Bowers Hated Trump—for Not Hating Jews". Daily Beast. Archived from the original on November 10, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  34. ^ Graham, Duncan (November 5, 2018). "Pittsburgh synagogue gunman Robert Bower's links to British far right". The Times. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  35. ^ a b Weill, Kelly (November 2, 2018). "Pittsburgh Shooting Suspect Robert Bowers Worked on Gab to Doz Left-Wing Blogger". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on November 4, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  36. ^ Cite error: The named reference Shannon was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  37. ^ Cite error: The named reference Vesoulis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  38. ^ "National Refugee Shabbat". Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Archived from the original on October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  39. ^ Cite error: The named reference WardLordNavatril was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  40. ^ Cite error: The named reference AndoneHannaSterlingMurphy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  41. ^ Cite error: The named reference LevensonSanchez was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  42. ^ Kragie, Andrew (October 27, 2018). "The Synagogue Killings Mark a Surge of Anti-Semitism". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  43. ^ Barrouquere, Brett; Janik, Rachel (October 27, 2018). "A gunman opened fire on a synagogue in Pittsburgh, killing at least eleven people and wounding others". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  44. ^ Byford, Sam (October 28, 2018). "Gab.com goes down after GoDaddy threatens to pull domain". The Verge. Archived from the original on October 29, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
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