The man accused of killing 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday has been released from a local hospital to federal authorities.
Robert Gregory Bowers, who was shot and wounded in a gun battle with police, was handed over to federal authorities for a court appearance Monday, The Associated Press reported.
{mosads}Federal prosecutors are planning to seek the death penalty for Bowers, who reportedly said “All Jews must die” as he stormed Tree of Life Synagogue.
Authorities said he later told police “I just want to kill Jews” and that “all these Jews need to die,” the news agency reported.
Eleven people were killed in Saturday’s attack, in what the Anti-Defamation League has said is likely the deadliest instance of violence against Jewish people in U.S. history.
Bowers has been charged with 29 counts, including multiple hate crimes for which he could receive the death penalty.
President Trump suggested after the attack that the perpetrator should “pay the highest price” for what the president 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.”
He later again called for Bowers’s execution.
“Through the centuries, the Jews have endured terrible persecution. … And those seeking their destruction, we will seek their destruction,” he said.
“And when you have crimes like this, whether it’s this one or another one on another group, we have to bring back the death penalty.”