Tag Archives: Pittsburgh massacre

How could it get worse than bombs in the mail? It just did

My heart is broken. My head is spinning. I am about to scream at the top of my lungs.

The nation has just witnessed a serial domestic terrorist mailing pipe bombs to political figures and a major media outlet. Law enforcement arrested him and he stands accused of multiple counts of terrorism-related felonies.

Then an explosion of violence erupted today in a Pittsburgh, Pa., synagogue. Eleven people are dead. The suspect is known to hold anti-Semitic views. The president of the United States, Donald Trump, called it a crime “against humanity.” Yes, it most certainly is.

The Justice Department is planning to file hate crime charges against the monster who opened fire on the congregants who were worshiping in a Shabbat ceremony commemorating the Jewish holy day.

This latest example of sickening, heartbreaking violence defies any form of logic. It boggles the mind. It pushes everything else — perhaps even including the pipe bomb suspect and the terror he brought to the nation — to the back of our consciences, if only for a brief period.

I heard reports during the day about how the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, where the massacred occurred, is known to be a “beautiful” and “peaceful” place. It contains an eclectic blend of people of varying faiths, ethnic background, races.

Think, too, of the tragic irony that the massacre took place in a synagogue named The Tree of Life.

It will take a long time to get past this latest spasm of violence.