The man charged with murdering 11 people in a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue pleaded not guilty in court on Thursday, according to multiple reports.
Robert Bowers’s lawyers asked for a jury trial in an arraignment in federal court, The Wall Street Journal reported.
{mosads}Prosecutors told the Journal that the trial stemming from last Saturday’s massacre might take three to four weeks, unless the case is certified for capital punishment.
No trial date was set in Thursday’s brief court proceedings.
Bowers was indicted Wednesday on 44 counts related to the attack.
He reportedly screamed “all Jews must die” as he stormed the Tree of Life Synagogue and gunned down those gathered to worship.
Eleven people were killed in the attack and several others, including police officers, were wounded.
Authorities say the suspect told police after the shooting that he wanted “to kill Jews” and that “all these Jews need to die.”
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, which President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said would be appropriate.
Trump suggested shortly after the attack that the perpetrator should “pay the ultimate price” for what the president called “an assault on humanity.”
Later that day, he called again for the shooter’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.”
Updated at 11:21 a.m.