Pittsburgh Shooting Sparks NYC Vigils Against Hate

NEW YORK — New York City officials and faith leaders plan to hold vigils Monday and Tuesday to stand against hatred and in support of the city's Jewish community after 11 people were massacred at a Pittsburgh synagogue.

The Saturday attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood capped a week of horrific hate-fueled crimes, including a series of attempted mail bombings and the murder of two black shoppers at a Kentucky supermarket.

New Yorkers have gathered around the city in the days since to mourn the victims, who ranged in age from 54 to 97 years old. One Sunday vigil at Congregation Ansche Chesed on the Upper West Side drew hundreds of people and created an overflow crowd on West End Avenue, ABC 7 reported.

City Comptroller Scott Stringer will lead a unity vigil at 5:30 p.m. Monday at Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza, where about 200 people reportedly held a similar gathering on Sunday. An interfaith prayer vigil is set for the same time at Queens Borough Hall, led by Borough President Melinda Katz.

"In times of such darkness, may our unity light the way," Katz said in a statement. "Join fellow New Yorkers across all faiths and backgrounds to stand together in solidarity as one."

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. will host another vigil at noon Tuesday at the Bronx County Building, followed by an 8:15 p.m. service at Central Synagogue in Midtown featuring Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

The Pittsburgh attack alarmed Jewish leaders — the Anti-Defamation League's CEO and national director called it "the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in American history" — and drew condemnation from officials in New York, which is home to the greatest concentration of Jewish people of any metropolitan area in the nation.

The alleged gunman, Robert Bowers, was armed with handguns and assault rifles when he killed 11 people and wounded six others, including four police officers, during religious services at the synagogue.

He declared his hatred for Jewish people during the attack, at one point telling a law enforcement officer, "I just want to kill Jews," according to a criminal complaint. He also reportedly had a history of anti-Semitic posts on the social media website Gab.

"The tragedy at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh is a reminder that we cannot take that for granted, that anti-Semitism is real and it is dangerous, and that we must keep doing everything we can to completely and unequivocally oppose this form — and all forms — of bigotry," U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said in a statement Monday.

The shooting came a day after federal authorities arrested Cesar Sayoc, the Florida man accused of mailing more than a dozen bombs to high-profile Democrats across the country. Packages he allegedly sent caused scares at CNN's Midtown bureau, Robert De Niro's West Village offices and a Hell's Kitchen post office.

As the dangerous parcels emerged, Gregory Bush allegedly shot and killed two black shoppers in a Jefferstown, Kentucky grocery store on Oct. 24, reportedly telling one bystander, "Whites don't kill whites." Bush tried to break into a predominantly black church before the shooting, news reports say.

"Any attack on a house of worship is really going for the jugular of a faith community," Rabbi Arthur Schneier of the Park East Synagogue said at a news conference Saturday. "If you want to attack a church, a mosque, a temple or a synagogue — those hatemongers are ready to kill, regardless of who you are."

(Lead image: People hold candles Saturday at a vigil in the aftermath of the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. Photo by Matt Rourke/Associated Press)