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Oct. 29, 2018 / 6:26 PM GMT / Updated 6:50 PM GMT
By Scott Newell and Minyvonne Burke
PITTSBURGH — Robert Bowers, the man accused of killing eleven people when he opened fire at a Pittsburgh synagogue during services Saturday morning, showed no emotion as he arrived for his first court appearance Monday wearing shackles and being pushed in a wheelchair surrounded by U.S. Marshals.
Bowers, 46, was charged with 29 felony counts, including 11 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder and 11 counts of obstruction of the exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death.
He also faces 11 state charges, including attempted homicide and aggravated assault.
President Donald Trump will visit Pittsburgh on Tuesday, press secretary Sarah Sanders said during a White House briefing on Monday.
In court, Bowers was dressed in a blue sweatshirt for his court appearance. His handcuffs were removed at one point during the hearing so he could sign papers.
He waived a reading of criminal complaints and a detention hearing and also asked to have counsel appointed for him, which the judge agreed to do. Bowers was then wheeled back out of the courtroom without saying anything beyond the short answers to the judge’s questions.
U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said Bowers is being held without bond and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Thursday. Federal prosecutors also plan to seek the death penalty, the Associated Press reported Sunday.
Sabbath services were underway at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood when police say Bowers walked inside just before 10 a.m. ET and opened fire. Worshipers told MSNBC that a bris, or circumcision celebration, was taking place at the time the shooting started.
Bowers was armed with an assault rifle and three handguns when police arrested him, officials said. He reportedly yelled “All Jews must die” before opening fire.
At least 11 adults were killed in the massacre, and six people were injured, including four police officers. Dr. Don Yealy, chairman of emergency medicine at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said Saturday a 70-year-old man and a 55-year-old officer were in critical condition.
Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said the attack at Tree of Life was “one of the worst” crimes scenes he’s ever seen.
Bob Jones, an FBI special agent with the Pittsburgh field office, said a Pittsburgh officer and Bowers exchanged gunfire as he was leaving the synagogue. Bowers allegedly shot the officer and then retreated back into the building where he hid from SWAT.
One other officer and two SWAT members were also shot, police said. Bowers was shot multiple times by police before his arrest and was taken to the hospital before federal officials took him into custody.
Hours before the attack, Bowers reportedly threatened the Jewish community on the social networking site Gab, writing that the humanitarian nonprofit group Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society brought immigrants into the country to do violence.
The post allegedly read: “Screw your optics, I’m going in.”
At the White House, Sanders defended Trump against criticism that he hasn’t done enough to denounce white nationalism.
“He’s denounced racism, hatred and bigotry in all forms on a number of occasions,” Sanders said. ” (He) will continue to do that. I’m doing it here today.”
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who was presiding over the congregation when shots rang out, said on “Today” that it would be his “honor” to welcome Trump to the city, while the former president of Tree of Life Synagogue said on CNN that she does not think Trump should visit because he’s the “purveyor of hate speech.”
“I do not welcome this president to my city,” Lynette Lederman said.
“The hypocritical words that come from him tell me nothing,” Lederman continued. “We have people who stand by us who believe in values, not just Jewish values, but believe in values, and those are the not the values of this president, and I do not welcome him to Pittsburgh.”