Sac State students react to Saturday’s Tree of Life Shooting

Mike Yun

As the Sacramento community reacted to  Saturday’s shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue that left 11 dead and six injured, Sacramento State students weighed in on the massacre.

“It is no longer shocking,” Abigya Mamo, a Sac State ethnic studies major said. “Like, we are really numbed out to shootings in general. It is becoming the new normal.”

According to authorities, 46-year-old Robert Bowers opened fire Saturday at a Pittsburgh synagogue with an assault rifle and three handguns.

Bowers was charged with 11 counts of criminal homicide, six counts of aggravated assault and 13 counts of ethnic intimidation, the New York Times reported.

Floyd Johnson, president of Sac State’s College Republicans, said Bowers should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

“I think the attack on the synagogue was a heinous attack on the Jewish community,” Johnson said. “The man who is responsible should go to prison for the rest of his life, at least, and I would also recommend capital punishment as well, due to the severity of his crime.”

Sparkle Hogan, a Sac State criminal justice major, said the shooting and similar actions could be being as a result of the President Donald Trump’s actions.

“It’s getting out of control, and I think most of it has to do with the president and all these rules and stipulations he is putting on the country as a whole,”Hogan said. “It’s kind of overwhelming, and I think drastic actions from mentally ill people are happening more and more.”

CNN reported that Bowers used an account on Gab — a social media site with no censorship and favored by the Alt-right — to repost anti-Semitic content and posted slurs and conspiracies targeting the Jewish community.

According to the New York Times, Bowers was taken into custody Saturday after a shootout with police, wounding four police officers and two others before eventually surrendering.

“This was a man who was filled with hatred and someone who does not represent American values,” Johnson said. “This is a dark stain on the tapestry of American history and a day that none of us will forget.”