Hi there,

If you think Democracy Now!’s reporting is a critical line of defense against war, climate catastrophe and authoritarianism, please make your donation of $10 or more right now. Today, a generous donor will DOUBLE your donation, which means it’ll go 2x as far to support our independent journalism. Democracy Now! is funded by you, and that’s why we’re counting on your donation to keep us going strong. Please give today. Every dollar makes a difference—in fact, gets doubled! Thank you so much.
-Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Federal Trial Begins for 2018 Massacre at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue

HeadlineMay 31, 2023

In Pittsburgh, the federal death penalty trial of the gunman accused of killing 11 Jewish worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018 is underway. On Tuesday, jurors listened to a 911 audio recording that contained the last words of 84-year-old Bernice Simon, one of the massacre’s victims. Simon told the dispatcher, “I’m scared to death,” over background audio of screams and gunshots.

Robert Bowers has pleaded not guilty to 63 charges, including hate crimes. Investigators say Bowers posted antisemitic comments and racist memes online in the months ahead of the shooting and called immigrants “invaders.” If convicted, he could face execution.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top