The Tree of Life synagogue’s rabbi said Monday that President Trump is welcome to visit following Saturday’s shooting that left 11 people dead.
“The president of the United States is always welcome,” Rabbi Jeffrey Myers told CNN. “I’m a citizen. He’s my president. He is certainly welcome.”
A gunman stormed the Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday morning allegedly yelling “All Jews must die” as he fired at those gathered to worship.
{mosads}The Anti-Defamation League said the shooting was likely the deadliest attack on Jewish people in U.S. history.
The accused perpetrator is in custody and has been charged with 29 counts, including multiple hate crimes.
Eleven members of the Pittsburgh affiliate of Bend the Arc, a progressive Jewish organization, published an open letter saying Trump should not visit the synagogue.
“Our Jewish community is not the only group you have targeted,” the group wrote over the weekend. “Yesterday’s massacre is not the first act of terror you incited against a minority group in our country.”
The president condemned the shooting, saying that the alleged perpetrator should “pay the highest price” for what he called “an assault on humanity.”
“This was an anti-Semitic attack at its worst,” Trump said. “The scourge of anti-Semitism cannot be ignored, cannot be tolerated, and it cannot be allowed to continue … It must be confronted and condemned everywhere it rears its very ugly head.”