Death penalty a possibility for Robert Bowers
Bowers entered the synagogue shouting anti-Semitic slurs around 9:30 AM on Saturday, October 27th. He killed 11 people and injured 6 more. The 11 people killed were all members of the synagogue, while two more were injured; the other four injured were officers responding to the shooting.
Federal prosecutors are pushing for the death penalty, but the final decision rests on Attorney General Matt Whitaker. President Trump has also expressed his support for the death penalty, although he has no legal control over the situation.
Taryn Smith, English teacher at Urbana High School, stresses to her class the importance of following current events. The synagogue shooting is one current event that her classes have discussed recently. With the death penalty an option for Bowers, Smith says “I feel like if a jury decides beyond reasonable doubt that the crime committed was worth the death penalty, the final say should actually go to the family of the victim(s). While nothing could bring back a possible murder victim, families could experience some sort of closure by having a say in ultimate punishment.”
While no final decision has been made on Bowers’ fate, and no public discussion on when a decision will be made, people can only wait and wonder what will happen. In the meantime, the FBI released a report on Tuesday, November 13th, saying that last year, hate crimes rose 17 percent, while Anti-Semitic attacks rose 37 percent.
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