Statement by U.S. Conference of Mayors President Columbia, SC Mayor Steve Benjamin on the Shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh

LOS ANGELES, CA MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI

ALBUQUERQUE, NM MAYOR TIM KELLER

MINNEAPOLIS, MN MAYOR JACOB FREY

CHICAGO, IL MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL

“Over the past week, across our nation, we have seen the dark forces of hatred, extremism and prejudice boil over into violence. While the ugly undercurrents of those forces always exist, as American leaders we cannot give them safe harbor or a sense of acceptance. As intolerance and ignorance threaten to tear us apart, we must come together as Americans and empower the better angels of our nature.”

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EVERETT, WA MAYOR CASSIE FRANKLIN

“Every member of our community – and our country – has the right to live safely and peacefully, and without fear. It is appalling to see schools and houses of worship become places of such terrible violence and extremism. In Everett, we will continue working within our community to promote diversity, inclusion and acceptance for all.”

Everett Vigil for Pittsburgh
11.01.08
Snohomish County Public Meeting Room 1st floor
6:00 pm

HOUSTON, TX MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER

“The City of Houston will not tolerate hate and violence against any group no matter who the perpetrator(s) may be. The fatal shooting of Jews and law enforcement officers must be condemned by all of us.

“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the tragedy that unfolded at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh today.

“Violence in any form, whether it be individuals, a particular religious group, or religious space is unacceptable. There is truly no place for hate.

“Chief Art Acevedo, Houston Police, and our partner law enforcement groups are monitoring synagogues around our city.

“In this city, this administration will continue to seek ways to reduce gun violence in any form.

“I will continue to work with my Commission on Gun Violence to further implement policies that will bring safety to every community in Houston.”

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TUKWILA, WA MAYOR ALLAN EKBERG

“Senseless acts by senseless people affect all of us regardless of faith, culture or community. Our hearts and minds go out to you and are all impacted with the weight of those lives lost and their impacts on friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances and loved ones. May your faith carry you on through this terrible time; please be it known that Tukwila and its diverse multitude of faiths stand beside you.”

TUCSON MAYOR JONATHAN ROTHSCHILD

Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild spoke to about 1,000 people gathered at the Jewish Community Center on Monday night for a vigil for the victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue attack. His remarks, as prepared for delivery:

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MADISON, WI MAYOR PAUL SOGLIN

Words have meaning. When Donald Trump says he is a nationalist, it rings with the tone of white supremacy and his voice carries the pitch of racism.

The following is what I shared at the press conference Saturday:

  1. We do not want to live in a United States where everyone carries firearms and armed guards are at every school, every house of worship, and every street corner.
  1. This is a relatively new phenomenon accelerated by the firearms industry and the NRA’s influence in weakening firearms regulations at a time we should be adopting more responsible gun laws.
  1. We need to understand that people like the pipe bomber or the shooter in Pittsburgh are very disturbed and troubled people. Frankly, their political affiliation or political views are not the issue. These are disturbed people who need to validate their existence through violence, they can be religious, political zealots or unaffiliated like the assassin in Las Vegas.
  1. Further we need to understand they are fueled by disturbed political leaders who lie and use hyperbole to m motivate and incite. These latest acts of violence lead directly to Donald Trump. Trump continues to feed these sick people and none of his words of concern or rhetoric about arming houses of worship will undo the violation of the innocent. These people hear the words of Trump and believe he speaks directly to them authorizing their deranged violence.

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SANTA FE MAYOR ALAN WEBBER

The Mayor attended an interfaith memorial on Sunday evening at Temple Beth Shalom here in Santa Fe. He also released the following statement:

On this morning after the horrible massacre at the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh, all of us in Santa Fe reach out to the victims and their families with our condolences and our prayers.

We are a City of faith—of all faiths—and an anti-Semitic attack not only threatens our Jewish sisters and brothers, it threatens all of us.

We are a City of compassion, a Sanctuary City, and an attack that targets those who are offering shelter and comfort to immigrants is an attack on all of us here in Santa Fe.

We are a City of inclusion and caring, of love and kindness, and in that spirit we are joined in mourning with those now suffering from this awful shooting.

It’s not enough, however, simply to decry this slaughter of the innocent. Once again, we need to rekindle our efforts to stop gun violence wherever it might take place, to do our part to protect our own here in Santa Fe, and to strengthen the bonds of friendship and community that connect us to each other here at home.

In that spirit, please join me if you can at Temple Beth Shalom at 5:00pm today for an Interfaith Alliance gathering to honor and remember those who were killed and injured yesterday in Pittsburgh, and to send our love and compassion to their friends, families, and the whole of the City of Pittsburgh.

SACRAMENTO, CA MAYOR DARRELL STEINBERG

Like all of you, I am sickened and horrified by the shooting in Pittsburgh this morning. As a member of the Jewish community and the mayor of our city, I cannot adequately express the sadness and anger I feel when another despicable act like this rips through our country. Once again, the appropriate thoughts and prayers for innocent victims, for people praying on a fall Saturday morning, and for men and women sworn to protect us, seem hollow and not nearly enough.

This time, evil struck at a synagogue. But it could as easily have been at another African American church, another gay nightclub, a women’s health clinic or a mosque.

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LOUISVILLE, KY MAYOR GREG FISCHER

“Last week we had horrific hate crimes in our community, as well as at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, and we’re still reeling from it and grieving,” Mayor Fischer said.  “But we’re also taking action, mindful that we must continue to work together as a community – one proudly diverse, welcoming city – to ensure all our fellow human beings are safe, healthy and able to reach their full potential. My administration was already working to tackle tough issues like violence, divisiveness and hate before this happened, and we won’t stop until everyone understands that we’re in this together, and our individual worlds are stronger when we all thrive.”

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DAYTON, OH MAYOR NAN WHALEY

GRAND RAPIDS, MI MAYOR ROSALYNN BLISS

“In the wake of the devastating tragedy at the Tree of Life Synagogue, we send our deepest condolences to our Jewish brothers and sisters and the entire Pittsburgh community.”

WARREN, MI MAYOR JAMES R. FOUTS

Very horrific events last week regarding the slaughter of innocent men and women at the Jewish Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Equally disturbing is the idea that one individual would attempt to send letter bombs to former Presidents Obama and Clinton as well as other prominent former and current U.S. government officials. Maybe more should be done to prevent these unspeakable events. Such as:
  1. How far should the idea of free speech on the internet go?
  2. Do like minded individuals get their ideas for the above atrocities from the internet?
  3. Should everyone be more vigilant about what they see or hear on social media? If you see danger tell someone.
  4. Does every church need to have an armed guard at the door? What about schools, malls, and theaters?
  5. Do schools need to do more about bigotry? 6)Robert Bowers killed 11 members of the synagogue Saturday morning with an AR-15 style assault rifle and several hand guns. Is there a way to prevent individuals like Bowers from getting an assault rifle?
Very disturbing and hopefully more can be learned and more can be done.

NASHVILLE, TN MAYOR DAVID BRILEY

On the day of the incident, Mayor Briley released the following statement on social media:

“What happened in #Pittsburgh today is an attack on the Jewish people and all people of faith. We cannot tolerate this as a society. Nashville sends our full support to Pittsburgh and especially to the loved ones of those killed or injured. We stand with you. Here at home, please know that we are taking every measure to keep all residents safe.”

Mayor Briley also spoke on the subject to memorialize the victims and offer support for the community, at three events between Saturday and Tuesday, including the Islamic Center’s Meet your Muslim Neighbor event. On Monday, the mayor attended a memorial service at the Temple Congregation Ohabai Shalom and released this statement on social media: “Thank you to the Temple Congregation Ohabai Sholom for bringing the community together tonight in remembrance of those who lost their lives in #Pittsburgh. Nashville stands with all people of faith as we seek a future that does not include senseless gun violence and hate.”

AUSTIN, TX MAYOR STEVE ADLER

The horrifying acts of terror in Pittsburgh shake us all.
Because I am Jewish, this event hits close to home and reverberates at my core. It makes vivid the conversations I had with my grandparents about the anti-Semitism in the Europe that my family fled. And what I see in the media, even over the last year. That hate is horrifying. But Jews do not own being its target.
That very same hate kills African Americans in a Charleston church basement.
It takes lives in a Mosque in Quebec.
It targets the LGBTQ community in Orlando.
It finds Sikhs in a gurdwara in Wisconsin.
It murders Buddhists in a Waddell, AZ, temple.
It’s the same hate. We are all in this together.
So together, we must confront hate, wherever we see it, whenever we see it.
When it looms large and also when the transgressions might seem small.
We must own that today’s political speech of divisiveness tills the ground for hate to grow… when we demonize one another…when the intent of a call to action is to make us afraid of one another, to gain political advantage.
A year or so ago, the headline in a Alt-Right media publication read: “Austin’s Jew Mayor Demands Tranny Police Force”
The article led with a photo of me, smiling. Beneath the photo, the caption read: “It’s very unsettling when Jews try to look human. Just grow the beard and locks you freak.”
Mainstream media asked about the article at that time. I minimized it and its impact.
I was wrong. I resolve to do better. We must all resolve to do better.
My heart breaks and I cry with the victims, the families of those killed and injured, all of the worshippers and the law enforcement officers that bravely responded.
May the memories of those that died make us better.

ORLANDO MAYOR BUDDY DYER

After suffering the horrific Pulse nightclub tragedy in 2016, the City of Orlando received tremendous support and countless expressions of solidarity and love from mayors and cities throughout the nation and from around the world. This outpouring lifted Orlando’s spirits when we needed it most, and was particularly touching when coming from cities that had recently suffered their own tragedy – cities such as San Bernardino, Boston, Charleston, and Paris.
Having witnessed firsthand the power that mayors and cities have in supporting each other in times of crisis, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and the City of Orlando take great pride in standing with our fellow cities in their hour of need – by offering prayers and emotional support, but also standing by with practical lessons for governing during and after such a crisis. In response to the tragedy in Pittsburgh, Mayor Dyer and the City of Orlando have done the following:
  • Senior members of the Mayor’s staff, including from the Mayor’s Office, the Orlando Police Department, the City Attorney’s Office, and others, quickly reached out to their counterparts at the City of Pittsburgh – offering whatever support and advice might help in their recovery.
  • Mayor Dyer and key City social media platforms quickly responded with voices of support and solidarity.
  • Keeping with recent tradition at the City of Orlando, the Mayor and City staff hand-print words of love and encouragement on an official City of Orlando flag. The flag is being delivered to the Tree of Life synagogue as a symbol of our support.
  • Many City of Orlando staff, including newly-sworn Police Chief Orlando Rolon attended the “Stop the Hate: Remembering the Victims in Pittsburgh” vigil organized by the Greater Orlando Board of Rabbis and several Central Florida Jewish organizations.
  • Mayor Dyer and each of the City’s six elected commissioners signed an official statement of the City of Orlando condemning the hateful violence towards the Pittsburgh Jewish community, but also sharing Orlando’s love and support for the people of Pittsburgh.
  • Mayor Dyer added his name to full-page ads in the Orlando Sentinel and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The ads were sponsored by the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida and simply express our community’s shock, grief, and hope with the Tree of Life Congregational family and the entire Pittsburgh community.

ROCHESTER HILLS, MI MAYOR BRYAN K. BARNETT

“The lives, stories and the legacy left by the 11 victims of the shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue will never be forgotten. As I conveyed to Mayor Peduto on the day of the incident, the City of Rochester Hills (MI) stands by Pittsburgh and its people. We condemn this act and are sickened that it was fueled by hatred.
The people of the Tree of Life who lost their lives were among the very best our country has to offer. Described as kind, intelligent, caring, funny, helpful, gregarious, dedicated, gentle and “always there,” we will do well to remember and live by the example they set.
As the members of the Squirrel Hill community heal, we must continue our work related to inclusion, acceptance and safety for all people. This effort is ongoing in my city and nationally with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, within which I hold a leadership position. The act in Pittsburgh has given us even greater resolve and determination in our work. We are, indeed, Stronger than Hate.”