New Light Conregation rabbi Jonathan Perlman asks attorney general not to seek death for Pittsburgh mass shooter

Rabbi Jonathan Perlman and his wife, Beth Kissileff, recently penned letters to Attorney General William Barr urging him not to seek the death penalty for Robert Bowers, the alleged gunman who opened fire at a Pittsburgh synagogue in October, killing 11 worshipers.

Perlman is rabbi at New Light Congregation, one of three communities that met at the synagogue.

“We are still attending to our wounds, both physical and emotional, and I don’t want to see them opened any more,” wrote Perlman, 55. “A drawn out and difficult death penalty trial would be a disaster with witnesses and attorneys dredging up horrifying drama and giving this killer the media attention he does not deserve.”