Saturday’s shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue took place in the real-life neighborhood of Fred Rogers, the host of the children’s show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”
Rogers lived in Squirrel Hill, three blocks from the Tree of Life synagogue where a gunman killed 11 people, according to USA Today.
CNN reported that Rogers attended Sixth Presbyterian Church while he was alive, which is 10-minutes walking from the Tree of Life Synagogue, which was attacked Saturday.
{mosads}In an opinion piece for The New York Times, Bari Weiss describes Squirrel Hill as generally being much like the friendly, fictional neighborhood featured on Rogers’s show, making Saturday’s violence all the more shocking.
The Anti-Defamation League has said the shooting is likely the worst instance of anti-Semitic violence in U.S. history.
The perpetrator reportedly stormed into the synagogue, screaming “All Jews must die” as he fired at the crowd gathered there to worship.
A suspect has been detained and charged with 29 counts, including hate crimes.
Weiss expressed her confidence that the neighborhood will not be cowed by the act of violence Saturday.
“The heartbreak is indescribable,” she said of the massacre.
“But Squirrel Hill, I am certain, will continue to live by the values that the Jews have sustained for more than 2,000 years. They can never be gunned down.”