A federal grand jury on Wednesday charged the man accused of killing 11 worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue with a slew of capital offenses, as the Jewish community held more funerals for the victims.
Robert Bowers, 46, faces an indictment that includes 44 counts of murder, attempted murder, hate crimes, obstructing free exercise of religion resulting in death, and other offenses that could bring the death penalty.
The indictment, which was expected, was announced on the second day of a weeklong series of funerals for congregants who perished in the mass shooting at Tree of Life synagogue.
"Today begins the process of seeking justice for the victims of these hateful acts," U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said in a statement, adding that his office "will spare no resource" in doing so.
The fresh charges account for surviving victims of the massacre, including police officers. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.
Bowers is accused of bursting into the synagogue and opening fire with a semi-automatic rifle and three pistols in the midst of Shabbat prayer services as he shouted: "All Jews must die."
The attack, following a wave of politically motivated pipe bombs mailed to prominent Democrats, heightened national tensions days ahead of the midterm elections that will decide whether U.S. President Donald Trump will lose the Republican majority he now enjoys in both houses of Congress.
The Pittsburgh massacre also fueled a debate over Trump's inflammatory political rhetoric and his self-identification as a "nationalist," which critics say has fomented a surge in right-wing extremism and may have even helped provoke Saturday's bloodshed.
The Trump administration has rejected the notion that he has encouraged white nationalists and neo-Nazis who have embraced him, insisting he is trying to unify America even as he continues to disparage the media as an "enemy of the people."
The after-effects of the tragedy pervaded life on Wednesday in the city's Squirrel Hill neighborhood, the heart of its Jewish community, where the synagogue is located.
In coffee shops, customers talked about the victims they knew, remembering them as civic-minded, kind and pillars of the community. In the street, friends embraced and comforted one another during the period of raw grief.
Funerals for the first four victims to be buried were held on Tuesday as Trump paid a low-key visit to Pennsylvania's second-largest city, stopping briefly at Tree of Life and the hospital where the wounded officers are recovering.
His trip was greeted by thousands of protesters, who staged a boisterous but peaceful march and rally near the synagogue, demanding Trump publicly denounce white nationalism.
Trump made no public comments during his visit but wrote on Twitter on Wednesday morning that his office had been "shown great respect on a very sad and solemn day" in Pittsburgh.
"Small protest was not seen by us, staged far away," he tweeted. "The Fake News stories were just the opposite-Disgraceful!"
Four days after the attack, nerves in Squirrel Hill were still frayed. A public school was briefly placed on lockdown following a report that someone had brought a gun onto campus, police said. The report was later found to be false.
