PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Latest on a deadly shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue (all times local): 8:55 a.m. A social media site popular…
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Latest on a deadly shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue (all times local):
8:55 a.m.
A social media site popular with far-right extremists and where the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting suspect had a profile has been taken down.
Gab.com writes it has been „systematically no-platformed by App Stores, multiple hosting providers, and several payment processors.“
In an audio statement on Twitter, co-founder and CEO Andrew Torba called Saturday’s shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue that killed 11 an „act of terrorism.“ Torba says the site has a zero-tolerance policy for terrorism and violence.
Gab.com says it suspended the account of suspect Robert Gregory Bowers and contacted law enforcement immediately, turning over his account. The site says Bowers had accounts on other social media platforms.
Bowers is due in court on Monday.
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8:40 a.m.
Fundraising campaigns are quickly pulling together relief after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, including at least one organized by Muslim Americans.
A crowdfunding campaign called Muslims Unite for Pittsburgh Synagogue has raised more than $90,000 for survivors and families. He says that when he saw the news, he thought „this could have very well been at a mosque or a Hindu temple.“
Meanwhile, a graduate student in Washington, D. C., has increased his fundraising goal from $500 to $1 million.
Shay Khatiri’s fundraiser had raised nearly $545,000 as of Monday morning. The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies student says the funds will go directly to the Tree of Life congregation.
Khatiri says he’s a political refugee from Iran who has been a recipient of the Jewish community’s generosity.
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7:20 a.m.
A rabbi who helped alert authorities to the synagogue shooting that killed 11 people says it was because of recent security training that he had a cellphone on him and was able to make the call.
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life in Pittsburgh said Monday on ABC’s „Good Morning America“ that he hadn’t always carried a cellphone on the Sabbath.
But he says a security expert had told him in August that he was living in a new era and needed to carry it.
Myers says that he spent 20 minutes on the phone with authorities and that it „felt like an eternity.“
Shooting suspect Robert Gregory Bowers is due in federal court Monday. Authorities say he expressed hatred toward Jews during the rampage Saturday and in later comments to police.
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6 a.m.
Survivors are recounting the terror of hiding in a dark closet during the massacre that killed 11 at a Pittsburgh synagogue and asking why the gunman blames them for the world’s problems.
Suspect Robert Gregory Bowers is expected to appear in federal court Monday. Authorities say he expressed hatred toward Jews during the rampage Saturday morning and in later comments to police.
U. S. Attorney Scott Brady says federal prosecutors intend to pursue the death penalty.
Barry Werber says members of the synagogue’s New Light Congregation were in the basement and beginning to pray when they heard crashing coming from upstairs. They looked out and saw a body on the staircase.
Werber says he called 911 but was afraid to say anything for fear of making noise as gunshots echoed upstairs.
