Robert Bowers, the suspect who allegedly shot up the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania had a large digital footprint that highlighted him as a undoubted anti-semite.
A Pittsburgh resident, the 46-year old Bowers literally posted on the social media platform Gab, a hub for alt-right and white supremacist that he was about to go in and kill a bunch of people.
Leaked Discord chats also indicate that Bowers had a ‘friendly’ chat with Jack Corbin aka “Pale Horse” who was synonymous with the “Unite the Right” rally back in the summer of 2017 that resulted the death of a counter protestor. The exact identity of Corbin isn’t known however he’s believed to be within the inner circles of the alt-right and a figure I’m sure many people on the left would like to identify further. It’s also not known if Bowers took part in last year’s rally.
Another leaked Discord chat contains messages by Jack Corbin aka "Pale Horse" who had friendly convo w Pittsburgh shooter Robert Bowers. Southern Front was a private chat for Vanguard America, group seen marching w Charlottesville car attacker James Fields https://t.co/Tl79rOe40T
— UNICORN RIOT (@UR_Ninja) October 27, 2018
And unlike the assumed thinking, Bowers was apparently not a Donald Trump supporter. Bowers referred to Trump as a ‘globalist’ who was ‘controlled by the jews’ according to some of his social media posts.
Posts from the suspected Pittsburgh shooter Robert Bowers. He hated Trump and thought Trump was controlled by Jews. This monster is an unhinged anti-Semitic terrorist. pic.twitter.com/sjb2k6ucwb
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) October 27, 2018
As previously noted too in his social media post just prior to the attack, Bowers blamed the migrant caravan from Central America on the Hebrew Immigrant Aide Society (HIAS) which Bowers often times railed against.
THE SHOOTING
Bowers was reported to have been spewing anti-semitic rhetoric during the attack on the synagogue including saying that ‘all Jews must die’. He was in the building for roughly 20 minutes. He originally engaged the first responding Pittsburgh PD officer when he tried to exit the synagogue. The two exchanged gunfire before Bowers re-entered the building to hide from the approaching SWAT team. The Pittsburgh PD officer was wounded but it’s unclear if Bowers was shot at this time.
ANY PRIOR CRIMINAL RECORD?
Bowers was relatively unknown to police prior to today’s shooting with Bob Jones, the FBI special agent overseeing the investigation adding “At this point we have no knowledge that Bowers was known to law enforcement before today.”
The only known criminal record of Bowers was a 2015 traffic ticket for not having license plate tabs.
It’s also believed he acted alone.
DID HE OWN HIS WEAPONS LEGALLY?
Although it’s unclear if the weapons used in the shooting were purchased legally, Bowers did have a permit to carry a firearm.
In 2015, Bowers did post on Gab a weapons collection he seemed pretty proud of.
The weapons used in the shooting were reported to be two hand guns and an assault riffle.
