US President Donald Trump Visits Pittsburgh Synagogue Amid Protests

Washington: US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visited the Pittsburgh synagogue where on the weekend a gunman who has espoused anti-Semitic views online massacred 11 people, while hundreds of protesters denounced the president’s seeming reluctance to frankly and clearly condemn white supremacism. As soon as Air Force One landed in Pittsburgh, Trump traveled to the Tree of Life synagogue, where the alleged shooter — Robert Bowers — burst in and opened fire on Saturday during a religious service, shouting “All Jews must die,” Efe reported on Tuesday.

Accompanying the first couple to the synagogue were Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, who are Jewish, along with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who professes the same faith. Trump and his family members spent about 20 minutes inside and outside the synagogue, where they spoke with a rabbi and placed a white rose and a small stone — a Jewish tradition — on each of the Stars of David set up outside the temple in memory of the massacre victims. The president and his wife lit candles inside the synagogue in honour of the victims, but they did not tour the entire building because it is classified as a crime scene and has been cordoned off so that investigators can go about their work gathering evidence. (IANS)

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