The Stars and Stripes fly half-staff at the White House. A week before the interim Congressional elections in the United States, after two unprecedented outbreaks of violence, the country is in a state of bewilderment. The “Land of the Free” ended up in a severe crisis under the presidency of Donald Trump. The opposition push the opinion that the policy of the current president has not only contributed to division, but also to radicalization.
While many democratic leaders and other prominent people received bombpacks earlier this week, 46-year-old Rob Bowers shot eleven people between the ages of 50 and 97 yesterday. That happened in the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this is the worst anti-Semitic crime in American history. Immediately after the bloody act, Trump spoke out for the reintroduction of the death penalty and a quicker execution of it in the case of a conviction.
Trump stressed that this cruel anti-Semitic attack is an assault against humanity. “The deadly poison of anti-Semitism must be fought,” he said. The president also advocated armed security personnel during church services. “A fool gets in and nobody gets protection. Armed guards could immediately stopped him, “said Trump. On Saturday evening he gave the order to hang all American flags at public buildings at half mast.
Trump did not change his plans
In the US a discussion broke out about how politics deals with current events. Government spokeswoman Sarah Sanders complained Sunday on Twitter that newspapers like the Washington Post seized every opportunity to criticize President Trump. The president had not canceled an election meeting in Illinois on Saturday night, despite the events in Pittsburgh. Trump had stated that you are playing fanatics, if you allow them to change your plans because of their violence.
Attack on Jewish prayer house
The Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh is a conservative Jewish house of prayer that is open to innovations, said the president of the Greater Pittsburgh Jewish Community, Jeff Finkelstein. The Squirrel Hill neighborhood is considered the center of Jewish life in the region. There are about 50,000 Jews living there. In many areas of the US, security measures for Jewish institutions were immediately tightened.
The massacre took place on the Jewish rest day, the Sabbath, when traditionally many people go to the synagogue. Children were not injured according to official information.