Trump to visit Pittsburgh
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump will visit Pennsylvania on Tuesday to mourn a synagogue massacre that left 11 people dead.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that Trump will go “to express the support of the American people and to grieve with the Pittsburgh community.”
There have been mixed responses to Trump’s plan to visit.
Leaders of a liberal Jewish group in Pittsburgh penned an open letter to the president, saying he was not welcome until he denounced white nationalism.
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers with the Tree of Life synagogue made clear he would be welcome, telling NBC that “it would be my honor to always meet a president of the United States.”
The man accused in the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre has appeared briefly in a federal courthouse in a wheelchair to face charges he killed 11 people in the attack.
Robert Bowers was wearing a blue sweatshirt in the Pittsburgh courtroom Monday. He was released from a hospital in the morning and turned over to federal authorities.
Bowers spoke with lawyers before the judge took the bench, going over documents and confirming his identity to the judge. He accepted a court-appointed defender.
Bowers was shot and wounded in a gun battle with police Saturday after what is believed to be the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. Authorities say he expressed hatred toward Jews during the rampage Saturday and in later comments to police.
