PROVIDENCE, RI – After a shooter opened fire during a baby naming ceremony at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue today, killing several people and wounding many others, including four police officers, U.S. Senator Jack Reed issued the following statement:

“I join all Rhode Islanders in praying for the victims of the Tree of Life Synagogue massacre and hope our nation will summon the moral courage to stop hate-filled mass shootings. 

“We stand with the Jewish community. Good people of all faiths must do more to combat anti-Semitism and religious intolerance.

“We can’t grow numb to this type of horrific violence and we can’t cast blame on a congregation for not having an armed guard.  Four brave police officers who were quickly on the scene were wounded too, so President Trump’s notion that another person with a gun would have prevented this is not credible.

“We must come together and confront the causes of this type of hatred and violence.  This isn’t a time for nationalism, it is a time for patriotism and reflection about the shared values that unite us all.”