Pittsburgh synagogue shooting: What to know
A gunman opened fire in a Pittsburgh synagogue, killing multiple people. Here’s what you need to know about the tragedy.
Hours after a lone gunman entered a Pittsburgh synagogue and opened fire, killing 11 and injuring six more, President Trump made calls to invoke the death penalty.
Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One, Trump addressed the “devastating” shooting that occurred Saturday morning at Tree of Life Synagogue, saying that “people who do this should get the death penalty.”
“I think they should stiffen up laws and I think they should very much bring the death penalty to anybody who does a thing like this to innocent people.”
The president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, who converted to the Orthodox Jewish faith, condemned the events.
"America is stronger than the acts of a depraved bigot and anti-semite. All good Americans stand with the Jewish people to oppose acts of terror & share the horror, disgust & outrage over the massacre in Pittsburgh. We must unite against hatred & evil. God bless those affected," Ivanka Trump tweeted.
Vice President Pence also tweeted, "praying for the fallen," while Kellyanne Conway, who counsels the president, called the event "horrifying."
Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the bloodshed in Pittsburgh “reprehensible and utterly repugnant to the values of this nation,” and saying it would be investigated as a hate crime.
“Hatred and violence on the basis of religion can have no place in our society,” his statement read. “Every American has the right to attend their house of worship in safety.”
First lady Melania Trump also took to Twitter to express her profound sorrow, saying that "the violence needs to stop."
"My heart breaks over the news out of #Pittsburgh. The violence needs to stop. May God bless, guide & unite the United States of America."
Former President Barack Obama called for unity and gun reform following the deadly shooting.
"We grieve for the Americans murdered in Pittsburgh. All of us have to fight the rise of anti-Semitism and hateful rhetoric against those who look, love, or pray differently. And we have to stop making it so easy for those who want to harm the innocent to get their hands on a gun," he tweeted.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the violence and hate in America must end.
"My thoughts are with everyone affected by this morning's horrific shooting at The Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. We can and must put a stop to this violence and this hate. It should have no home in America," she said on Twitter.
Rudy Giuliani condemned the "vile act of hatred" on Twitter.
"The attack on the synagogue in Pittsburg (sic) reminds us that anti-semitism is still very dangerous. All your fellow citizens stand with you today in condemning this vile act of hatred. This was an attack on all of us. Together we pray for all of you and America," he said.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., issued a strongly worded condemnation of the shooting and like so many others, voiced disgust and dismay over the racism that seemed to color it.
"This morning, a solemn celebration of life and faith turned to horror and chaos. We are deeply devastated by this tragedy, the roots of which appear to be especially repulsive," Ryan said in his statement. "The sickening reality is that anti-Semitism in America continues to rear its ugly head. It is an ideology of hate that must be eradicated wherever it may surface. This is a time to mourn and heal, but also to reaffirm that we will not tolerate this bigotry."
Others, like U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., chided politicians for feeding divisions in society with their rhetoric.
"We cannot continue down this path -- something must change,” his statement read. “Certainly, our loose gun laws are to blame, but we are also dealing with a much more insidious problem. Access to online cesspools of racial and religious hatred comes too easily today, and too often, political leaders are trading in the kind divisive rhetoric that caused people to fear those that look, or worship differently than them, and then act on those fears.”
Fox News' Jeffrey Rubin and Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
