Trump to visit Pittsburgh Tuesday despite pleas from mayor, residents that he stay away
ADAM SMELTZ
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
asmeltz@post-gazette.com
OCT 29, 2018 11:27 PM
President Donald Trump will visit Western Pennsylvania on Tuesday afternoon ?to express the support of the American people and to grieve with the Pittsburgh community,? three days after a gunman killed 11 people at a Squirrel Hill synagogue, the White House said Monday.
Officials wouldn?t detail Mr. Trump?s itinerary ? the administration said late Monday that it remained in the works. First Lady Melania Trump, daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner are scheduled to join him. The Trumps are expected to arrive at Pittsburgh International Airport at 3:45 p.m.
Mr. Trump said late Monday that he was looking forward to the visit.
?Well, I?m just going to pay my respects,? Mr. Trump told Fox News Channel?s Laura Ingraham. ?I?m also going to the hospital to see the officers and some of the people that were so badly hurt.?
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, of Tree of Life Congregation, right, hugs Rabbi Jonathan Perlman, of New Light Congregation, and Rabbi Cheryl Klein, Dor Hadash Congregation, after thousands gathered at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland on Sunday for a vigil to remember the victims of Saturday's mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue
Rachel Ventresca
Squirrel Hill synagogue rabbi to politicians: Tone down 'words of hate'
The trip announcement came less than an hour after Mayor Bill Peduto urged against a presidential visit ?while we are burying the dead.? At least two funerals for shooting victims are to be held Tuesday.
?All attention [Tuesday] should be on the victims,? Mr. Peduto told reporters Downtown. ?We do not have enough public safety officials to provide enough protection at the funerals and to be able, at the same time, [to] draw attention away to a potential presidential visit.?
A city spokesman later said that ?all necessary steps will be taken? for security. Mr. Peduto also called for the White House to consult victims? families before setting a trip.
?I would ask that White House staff contact the families and ask them if they want the president to be here,? Mr. Peduto said. ?That?s not my call to make. That really comes from the victims? families themselves.?
Tomorrow we begin the funerals for our 11 neighbors who were stolen from us. Tomorrow we continue to mourn their loss. We continue to help their families & those that were wounded. We reach out to our Jewish community to share love, compassion & empathy. We are #StrongerThanHate
Such communication would ?respect those whose lives were stolen,? he said.
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald is ?going to support the families and their desires in this,? county spokeswoman Amie Downs said.
Trump offered to visit with the family of Daniel Stein, a 71-year-old who had just become a grandfather when he was gunned down at Tree of Life. But Stein?s nephew, Stephen Halle, said the family declined.
In the wake of tragedy, more than $1 million in donations pours in
It was in part because of the comments Trump made in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, when he suggested the synagogue should have had an armed guard.
?Everybody feels that they were inappropriate,? Halle said Tuesday ? the same day his uncle was set to be buried ? of Trump?s remarks about security. ?He was blaming the community.
?A church, a synagogue, should not be a fortress. It should be an open welcoming place to feel safe.?
Mr. Peduto said he didn?t know Monday the families? collective will about Mr. Trump?s plans. The mayor will not attend events with the president, focusing instead on ?the funerals that start [Tuesday] and supporting families,? spokesman Timothy McNulty said.
?White House officials have been on the ground since this weekend, visiting with those in the community and offering support to the families and congregation,? the Trump administration said in a statement.
It didn?t say whether that included contacting families about a visit from Mr. Trump.
?There are going to be people in the Pittsburgh Jewish community who are very angry Trump is visiting, and there are going to be people who are very happy Trump is visiting,? the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh said in a statement. ?We are in the unusual position of representing all of Jewish Pittsburgh.
?We are doing the best we can to make this not a political issue,? the statement went on. ?We should also be united against terrorism, racism, anti-Semitism and any kind of hatred. This is a moment where we?re all Americans.?
The federation coordinates fundraising, strategy and other cooperation by local synagogues and other groups. Jeffrey Myers, a rabbi at Tree of Life synagogue, where the shootings occurred, told CNN on Monday that the president is welcome in Pittsburgh.
?The president of the United States is always welcome,? Mr. Myers said. ?I?m a citizen. He?s my president. He?s certainly welcome.?
Mr. Trump drew some criticism Saturday, when he said the attack might have ended differently if the synagogue had an armed guard.
?Maybe there would have been nobody killed, except for [the shooter], frankly,? Mr. Trump said. That?s likely part of ?a dispute that will always exist,? he said. The president also called for strengthening the death penalty.
Bill Cartiff, 56, of Scott, said he wouldn?t welcome Mr. Trump unless the president changed such positions.
?He cannot come to this community and tout that agenda,? said Mr. Cartiff, who knew some of the shooting victims. ?It will hurt a community that is already pained and crying, and he will drive us further into the ground.?
Marnie Fienberg, 49, of the Washington, D.C., area, said her family had not heard from Trump aides.
?For anyone going through this kind of grief, it?s not about politics yet. It might be later,? said Mrs. Fienberg, who stayed neutral over Mr. Trump?s visit. Her mother-in-law, Joyce Fienberg, died in the shooting.
ADAM SMELTZ
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
asmeltz@post-gazette.com
OCT 29, 2018 11:27 PM
President Donald Trump will visit Western Pennsylvania on Tuesday afternoon ?to express the support of the American people and to grieve with the Pittsburgh community,? three days after a gunman killed 11 people at a Squirrel Hill synagogue, the White House said Monday.
Officials wouldn?t detail Mr. Trump?s itinerary ? the administration said late Monday that it remained in the works. First Lady Melania Trump, daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner are scheduled to join him. The Trumps are expected to arrive at Pittsburgh International Airport at 3:45 p.m.
Mr. Trump said late Monday that he was looking forward to the visit.
?Well, I?m just going to pay my respects,? Mr. Trump told Fox News Channel?s Laura Ingraham. ?I?m also going to the hospital to see the officers and some of the people that were so badly hurt.?
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, of Tree of Life Congregation, right, hugs Rabbi Jonathan Perlman, of New Light Congregation, and Rabbi Cheryl Klein, Dor Hadash Congregation, after thousands gathered at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland on Sunday for a vigil to remember the victims of Saturday's mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue
Rachel Ventresca
Squirrel Hill synagogue rabbi to politicians: Tone down 'words of hate'
The trip announcement came less than an hour after Mayor Bill Peduto urged against a presidential visit ?while we are burying the dead.? At least two funerals for shooting victims are to be held Tuesday.
?All attention [Tuesday] should be on the victims,? Mr. Peduto told reporters Downtown. ?We do not have enough public safety officials to provide enough protection at the funerals and to be able, at the same time, [to] draw attention away to a potential presidential visit.?
A city spokesman later said that ?all necessary steps will be taken? for security. Mr. Peduto also called for the White House to consult victims? families before setting a trip.
?I would ask that White House staff contact the families and ask them if they want the president to be here,? Mr. Peduto said. ?That?s not my call to make. That really comes from the victims? families themselves.?
Tomorrow we begin the funerals for our 11 neighbors who were stolen from us. Tomorrow we continue to mourn their loss. We continue to help their families & those that were wounded. We reach out to our Jewish community to share love, compassion & empathy. We are #StrongerThanHate
Such communication would ?respect those whose lives were stolen,? he said.
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald is ?going to support the families and their desires in this,? county spokeswoman Amie Downs said.
Trump offered to visit with the family of Daniel Stein, a 71-year-old who had just become a grandfather when he was gunned down at Tree of Life. But Stein?s nephew, Stephen Halle, said the family declined.
In the wake of tragedy, more than $1 million in donations pours in
It was in part because of the comments Trump made in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, when he suggested the synagogue should have had an armed guard.
?Everybody feels that they were inappropriate,? Halle said Tuesday ? the same day his uncle was set to be buried ? of Trump?s remarks about security. ?He was blaming the community.
?A church, a synagogue, should not be a fortress. It should be an open welcoming place to feel safe.?
Mr. Peduto said he didn?t know Monday the families? collective will about Mr. Trump?s plans. The mayor will not attend events with the president, focusing instead on ?the funerals that start [Tuesday] and supporting families,? spokesman Timothy McNulty said.
?White House officials have been on the ground since this weekend, visiting with those in the community and offering support to the families and congregation,? the Trump administration said in a statement.
It didn?t say whether that included contacting families about a visit from Mr. Trump.
?There are going to be people in the Pittsburgh Jewish community who are very angry Trump is visiting, and there are going to be people who are very happy Trump is visiting,? the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh said in a statement. ?We are in the unusual position of representing all of Jewish Pittsburgh.
?We are doing the best we can to make this not a political issue,? the statement went on. ?We should also be united against terrorism, racism, anti-Semitism and any kind of hatred. This is a moment where we?re all Americans.?
The federation coordinates fundraising, strategy and other cooperation by local synagogues and other groups. Jeffrey Myers, a rabbi at Tree of Life synagogue, where the shootings occurred, told CNN on Monday that the president is welcome in Pittsburgh.
?The president of the United States is always welcome,? Mr. Myers said. ?I?m a citizen. He?s my president. He?s certainly welcome.?
Mr. Trump drew some criticism Saturday, when he said the attack might have ended differently if the synagogue had an armed guard.
?Maybe there would have been nobody killed, except for [the shooter], frankly,? Mr. Trump said. That?s likely part of ?a dispute that will always exist,? he said. The president also called for strengthening the death penalty.
Bill Cartiff, 56, of Scott, said he wouldn?t welcome Mr. Trump unless the president changed such positions.
?He cannot come to this community and tout that agenda,? said Mr. Cartiff, who knew some of the shooting victims. ?It will hurt a community that is already pained and crying, and he will drive us further into the ground.?
Marnie Fienberg, 49, of the Washington, D.C., area, said her family had not heard from Trump aides.
?For anyone going through this kind of grief, it?s not about politics yet. It might be later,? said Mrs. Fienberg, who stayed neutral over Mr. Trump?s visit. Her mother-in-law, Joyce Fienberg, died in the shooting.
