The Rev. Alvin Herring, executive director, blamed the Trump administration: “Since day one, the current administration has cultivated a culture of hate and fear, using dangerous rhetoric that gives cover to violent actors. As people of faith, we are called to work in opposition to the administration’s attempt to disconnect us from one another in their effort to retain power.”

However, an Oct. 27 profile of Bowers by The New York Times said that in addition to frequently reposting “anti-Semitic content that alleged Jews control the nation,” the alleged shooter also “extended his anger to the president, whom he accused of not going far enough to achieve the political goals Bowers wanted.”

“Days before the shooting, he wrote: ‘Trump is a globalist, not a nationalist. There is no #MAGA as long as there is ‘a — he inserted a slur for Jews — infestation.'”

Reuters had reported that a post on social media later identified as coming from Bowers said: “I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.” Shortly before the shooting it had been posted on Gab, a Philadelphia-based social networking service described as an alternative to Twitter. In a statement, Gab.com confirmed the poster’s profile belonged to Bowers.

Faith in Action also blamed Trump’s rhetoric for the Oct. 24 shooting of two black shoppers at a Kroger’s near Louisville, Kentucky, the news of which has been eclipsed by the synagogue massacre.

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