Tree Of Life Families Contradict Pennsylvania Governor’s Claims They Oppose The Death Penalty

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is the Pennsylvania Governor Rumored to be a national political aspirant, he claims that he has reversed himself and now opposes the death penalty after speaking to the families of victims of Tree of Life’s mass shooting. However, 9 of the 11 families of the victims support the death penalty.

In 2018, a gunman opened fired on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh as part of a morning worship service. He killed 11 members of the three congregations who met there.

Federal prosecutors have been in operation for almost one year since the shooting. Announcement They will seek the death penalty to indict Robert Bowers who is accused of shooting Robert. a 63-count indictment. Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s attorney general at the time, told the public “the killer deserved to be put to death.”

“For more than a decade, including when I assumed office as Attorney General, I believed that the death penalty should be reserved for the most heinous crimes – but that it was, indeed, a just punishment for those crimes,” Shapiro Telled On February 16, an activist crowd gathered at Mosaic Community Church West Philadelphia.

Governor Shapiro declared mid-February he would not just extend the term of Tom Wolf’s predecessor. Moratorium on execution warrants, he will also work with the state’s General Assembly to wipe the death penalty from Pennsylvania law “for good.” He said that his flip-flop would be a success. “make our system more fair and more just” After his son asked him why he thought it was okay to use death as a punishment, he cleared his conscience.

The Democrat credited his change of heart to the families of Tree of Life victims.

“I’ve spoken to victims, to families, to advocates, and to community leaders. I listened to the members of the Tree of Life community and was blown away by their courage and their fortitude. They told me, that even after all the pain and anguish, they did not want the killer put to death.  He should spend the rest of his life in prison they said, but the state should not take his life as punishment for him taking the lives of their loved ones,” Shapiro said. “That moved me. And that’s stayed with me.” 

Shapiro once more spoke to CNN’s Jake Tapper during a segment on his 180. He attributed his decision To the families who lost loved ones in the shooting.

“I witnessed the courage and the grace of the families in Pittsburgh, who had a loved one killed while they worshipped, who said to me, ‘please, please discourage them from pursuing the death penalty,” Shapiro said. “I was able to accept that position after having suffered what they did. I had to rethink my position, and I did.”

Despite Shapiro’s claims, nine of 11 of the victims’ relatives favor execution if the accused shooter is found guilty. In a strongly drafted letter To the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle editor in November 2022, the relatives of Sylvan and Bernice Simon, Cecil, David Rosenthal, Rose Mallinger