PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh police officer who was shot more than a half dozen times in last year’s mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue and a Holocaust survivor who barely missed the attack will attend the State of the Union address as guests of President Trump and first lady Melania Trump Tuesday evening.
Officer Timothy Matson, 41, and Judah Samet, who will be celebrating his 81st birthday the day of the address, both survived the October massacre that took the lives of 11 and injured several more.
Matson, a member of the SWAT team that engaged fire with the shooter, was one of several officers who were injured at the scene. His condition remained critical days after the massacre.
The alleged gunman, Jeff Bowers, allegedly shouted an anti-Semitic slur when he entered the synagogue that Saturday morning and allegedly opened fire armed with a rifle and several handguns. Bowers, 46, has pleaded not guilty after he was charged in a 44-count indictment accusing him of hate crimes. Last week a federal grand jury unveiled new charges against Bowers, bringing the number up to 63.
The shooting is believed to be the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the United States.
Three days after the massacre, the president and first lady visited the synagogue, placing a stone and a rose at each of the 11 Stars of David outside the synagogue. They were joined by the president’s daughter, Ivanka, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, both of whom are Jewish.
Trump spent over four hours in the city, meeting privately with the Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Meyers in the synagogue as well as injured officers and their families at UPMC Presbyterian in Oakland, which is in Pittsburgh.
