# Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, 2018 October 27 **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 27, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600 "2018-10-27T19:57:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/21 "2018-10-27T22:49:35Z")
Goddamnit. I don’t even know what to say anymore. So much ignorance. So much evil. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/22 "2018-10-27T22:59:36Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > I’m just so angry. > > [Pittsburgh shooting suspect identified as Robert Bowers; 8 dead at Tree of Life synagogue today in Squirrel Hill, Pennsylvania - CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pittsburgh-shooting-today-tree-of-life-synagogue-squirrel-hill-pennsylvania-2018-10-27-live-updates/) > **Shooting up a synagogue**? What exactly is this supposed to help? > > Death toll at 10 so far. On the Jewish holy day. People were attending Synagogue for prayers. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/23 "2018-10-27T23:07:24Z")
Death toll to 11 now, and it looks like we have a mug shot. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/24 "2018-10-27T23:11:17Z")
We need to stop letting white men into this country. They’re all terrorists. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/25 "2018-10-27T23:22:12Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Death toll to 11 now, and it looks like we have a mug shot. Christ, the last I heard there were “multiple injuries” and that was the extent of it! ☹ Time for some more Trump lies. When the bombing fucker with Trump and Pence idolation pasted all over his van was arrested, we learned from Trump all about how he, personally had absolutely nothing to do with it. Here we need to learn that guns had absolutely nothing to do with it. It wasn’t the assault rifle or the three handguns that caused this, it was the guy behind them, probably sent by Hillary Clinton and paid by George Soros. And of course the Jews with insufficient armed guards were also partly responsible. What were they thinking, holding Jew religious services with no armed protection? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/26 "2018-10-27T23:33:28Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > We need to stop letting white men into this country. They’re all terrorists. quoth Black Elk, Cochise, Pontiac… ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/27 "2018-10-27T23:55:43Z")
On the idea that we’re headed into a period of increasing violent attacks on everyone who fails to be a white Christian heterosexual male: if so, it’s not “the forces of history” causing the increase. It’s Donald Fucking Trump. He’s made it ‘okay.’ He’s given it the green light. I’m sure we all remember all the outrage over Muslim imams radicalizing Muslim terrorists. I’m sure we all remember the calls to hold them responsible for the terrorist acts committed by their followers. Well, former Republican strategist Steve Schmidt said yesterday, about the pipe-bomber, that Donald Trump is radicalizing white males. Schmidt got it exactly right. Donald Trump needs to be held responsible for his radicalizing activities. > ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/28 "2018-10-28T00:01:16Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > On the idea that we’re headed into a period of increasing violent attacks on everyone who fails to be a white Christian heterosexual male: if so, it’s not “the forces of history” causing the increase. It’s Donald Fucking Trump. > > He’s made it ‘okay.’ He’s given it the green light. > > I’m sure we all remember all the outrage over Muslim imams radicalizing Muslim terrorists. I’m sure we all remember the calls to hold them responsible for the terrorist acts committed by their followers. > > Well, former Republican strategist Steve Schmidt said yesterday, about the pipe-bomber, that Donald Trump is radicalizing white males. Schmidt got it exactly right. > > Donald Trump needs to be held responsible for his radicalizing activities. > > [https://twitter.com/SteveSchmidtSES/status/1055878997802856448](https://twitter.com/SteveSchmidtSES/status/1055878997802856448) Yes, though Trump may have just been the match. All that kindling’s been around for decades, just in hiding. A significant part of America that was there before Trump and will be here afterwards, barring a major change in society, law, and culture. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/29 "2018-10-28T00:03:04Z")
This was posted by Bowers in his social media: [https://i.redd.it/wo8ksjoferu11.jpg](https://i.redd.it/wo8ksjoferu11.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/30 "2018-10-28T00:10:13Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Yes, though Trump may have just been the match. All that kindling’s been around for decades, just in hiding. A significant part of America that was there before Trump and will be here afterwards, barring a major change in society, law, and culture. I agree, but having the President of the United States continually validating your world view has to increase the chances that you’ll go beyond mere hate speech and hate-posting, and commit actual violence. (Not “you” personally, obviously.) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/31 "2018-10-28T00:15:21Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Yes, though Trump may have just been the match. All that kindling’s been around for decades, just in hiding. A significant part of America that was there before Trump and will be here afterwards, barring a major change in society, law, and culture. Yes, but it’s the match that starts the fire in an otherwise inert pile of kindling. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/32 "2018-10-28T00:20:13Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Yes, but it’s the match that starts the fire in an otherwise inert pile of kindling. :dubious: And I think Trump was more than just a match, I think he was a good dose of gasoline too. The fire has always been there, smouldering under the wet leaves of social pressure to not be a racist. It wasn’t a match to start it, it was removing the barrier material, adding accelerant, and fanning the flames. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/33 "2018-10-28T00:30:13Z")
[Here](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/us/active-shooter-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting.html) is a direct connection to the hateful anti-immigrant rhetoric that Trump is unleashing: > [@](#): > > Several weeks ago, Mr. Bowers’s account posted a link to the website of HIAS, a Jewish nonprofit organization, which was planning a shabbat ceremony for refugees in locations around the country. The caption read: “Why hello there HIAS! You like to bring in hostile invaders to dwell among us?” > > And hours before the gunman entered the Tree of Life synagogue, the account posted again: “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.” [HIAS = Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, which does great work helping refugees: [HIAS - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIAS)] Fuck Trump and all the rest of the anti-immigrant bigots! ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/34 "2018-10-28T00:47:25Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > His last social media postings were towards a Jewish charity aimed at helping immigrants. Not immigrants, specifically refugees. Not refugees in America. Worldwide. They are Jewish UNICEF. I don’t know why but the hate directed at HIAS immediately before walking into a synagogue on shabbat and murdering people has made my blood run cold more than if it was just a random hate crime. I raise money for HIAS. Publicly. It’s my charity of choice. My synagogue is on the list of refugee shabbat participants he posted. He seems to be clearly fueled by the new brand of anti semitism that I have been seeing pop up where globalist is becoming code for jew. Not always but often. I am genuinely scared. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/35 "2018-10-28T00:50:56Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Christ, the last I heard there were “multiple injuries” and that was the extent of it! ☹ > > Time for some more Trump lies. When the bombing fucker with Trump and Pence idolation pasted all over his van was arrested, we learned from Trump all about how he, personally had absolutely nothing to do with it. Here we need to learn that guns had absolutely nothing to do with it. It wasn’t the assault rifle or the three handguns that caused this, it was the guy behind them, probably sent by Hillary Clinton and paid by George Soros. And of course the Jews with insufficient armed guards were also partly responsible. What were they thinking, holding Jew religious services with no armed protection? Just to add, more evidence of how insidious the Trump influence is – now it’s the scary “caravan”: According to his posts, Bowers believed that those in the migrant caravans were violent because they were attempting to leave countries that had high levels of violence. And Bowers repeatedly called them “invaders” on his Gab posts. “I have noticed a change in people saying ‘illegals’ that now say ‘invaders’,” read one post, six days before the shooting. “I like this.” [https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/27/us/synagogue-attack-suspect-robert-bowers-profile/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/27/us/synagogue-attack-suspect-robert-bowers-profile/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/36 "2018-10-28T02:47:31Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Thoughts and prayers, now is not the time to politicize this, no way to prevent these things, more armed guards. It was a politically-motivated murder. It’s already publicized. So shut the fuck up and let me politicize it more - by calling out the hateful right wing pigs for who they are. I know, I know…we’re not supposed to say that. Well, tough shit. We’re way beyond the politics of normal, and there is no going back. Where we’re at now is this: good must defeat evil. That is it. Nothing more, nothing less. Good - must - defeat - evil. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/37 "2018-10-28T03:30:37Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I know, I know…we’re not supposed to say that. Well, tough shit. We’re way beyond the politics of normal, and there is no going back. Where we’re at now is this: good must defeat evil. That is it. Nothing more, nothing less. > > Good - must - defeat - evil. You know that they say the exact same thing with the exact same words, right? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/38 "2018-10-28T03:32:34Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Thoughts and prayers, now is not the time to politicize this, no way to prevent these things, more armed guards. > [@Chisquirrel](#): > > Horseshit. Don’t let this kind of shit grow. Don’t claim there are “fine people” in a group that walks around chanting, “Jews will not replace us.” Don’t turn a liberal donor into a Jewish boogeyman. Don’t chant “Lock her/him up” for no reason other than you don’t like what they’ve said about you. Don’t blame the victims of terrorist attacks while claiming they’re “fake” and “the enemy of the people”. > > We’ve seen incredible amounts of political violence in the last week, and Republicans simply saying “What can we do?” > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > This _was a political act. And plenty of synagogues have_ armed guards. > [@asahi](#): > > It was a politically-motivated murder. > > It’s already publicized. So shut the fuck up and let me politicize it more - by calling out the hateful right wing pigs for who they are. > > I know, I know…we’re not supposed to say that. Well, tough shit. We’re way beyond the politics of normal, and there is no going back. Where we’re at now is this: good must defeat evil. That is it. Nothing more, nothing less. > > Good - must - defeat - evil. Nice hat trick, **Smapti**. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/39 "2018-10-28T04:26:52Z")
Armed guards. You do realise that just means the guy the attacker is going to shoot _first_. _Armoured_ guards might help. Maybe you could [install one of these.](http://www.shehnoorgroup.com/other-2.html) Outside every school, place of worship (not embracing mosques) and mall. And oh, cinema. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600/40 "2018-10-28T04:29:22Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Nice hat trick, **Smapti**. Not bad for a Modest Post. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synagogue-shooting-in-pittsburgh-2018-october-27/823600.md?page=3)