text: A Jewish nurse who treated Robert Bowers moments after the Squirrel Hill synagogue shooting said he saw “confusion” but not “evil” when he looked into his eyes. 
   
   Ari Mahler, one of two Jewish medical professionals to treat Bowers at Allegheny General Hospital on Oct. 27, said in a lengthy Facebook post over the weekend that Bowers “thanked me for saving him, for showing him kindness, and for treating him the same way I treat every other patient.” 
   
   Mahler, a registered nurse at Allegheny General since May, said he did not reveal his Jewish identity to Bowers. 
   
   “I’m sure he had no idea I was Jewish. Why thank a Jewish nurse,” Mahler wrote, “when 15 minutes beforehand, you’d shoot me in the head with no remorse? … This was the same Robert Bowers that just (allegedly) committed mass homicide. The Robert Bowers who instilled panic in my heart worrying (that) my parents were two of his 11 victims less than an hour before his arrival.” 
   
   Even as Bowers was saying, “I want to kill all the Jews,” he was being treated by two Jews — a trauma nurse and an attending emergency room doctor. Hospital President Dr. Jeff Cohen, who also is Jewish, declined to identify them in an earlier interview with the Tribune-Review , but Mahler said he went public on Facebook to tell his own story. 
   
   “I just know I feel alone right now,” he said, “and the irony of the world talking about me doesn’t seem fair without the chance to speak for myself.” 
   
   Mahler did not go into detail about his interactions with Bowers, citing medical privacy laws, but described his own experiences with anti-Semitism and his lack of surprise at the attack on Tree of Life Congregation, where 11 people were killed and six injured on Oct. 27. 
   
   “The fact that this shooting took place doesn’t shock me. To be honest, it’s only a matter of time before the next one happens,” he said. “History refutes hope that things will change. My heart yearns for change, but today’s climate doesn’t foster nurturing, tolerance, or civility.” 
   
   Mahler grew up the son of Rabbi Mark Joel Mahler, who retired as rabbi of Temple Emanuel of South Hills, a Reform synagogue, in June. He said he experienced anti-Semitism from other school children but more from ignorance than from hate. 
   
   “I found drawings on my desks of my family being marched into gas chambers, swastikas drawn on my locker, and notes shoved inside of it saying, ‘Die Jew. Love, Hitler.’ It was a different time back then, where bullying was not monitored like it is now,” he said. 
   
   Mahler worked as a loan officer and a financial consultant before taking a job as a nurse at Magee-Womens Hospital in 2014, according to his LinkedIn.com profile. 
   
   “As an adult, deflecting my religion by saying ‘I’m not that religious,’ makes it easier for people to accept I’m Jewish — especially when I tell them my father is a rabbi. ‘I’m not that religious,’ is like saying, ‘Don’t worry, I’m not that Jewish, therefore, I’m not so different than you,’ and like clockwork, people don’t look at me as awkwardly as they did a few seconds beforehand,” he said. 
   
   Mahler said he did his best to treat Bowers with “compassion and empathy. … I felt that the best way to honor his victims was for a Jew to prove him wrong. Besides, if he finds out I’m Jewish, does it really matter? The better question is, what does it mean to you?” 
   
   As for Bowers, Mahler said, “To be honest, I didn’t see evil when I looked into Robert Bowers’ eyes. All I saw was a clear lack of depth, intelligence, and palpable amounts of confusion. Robert Bowers probably had no friends, was easily influenced by propaganda, and wanted attention on a sociopathic level. He’s the kind of person that is easily manipulated by people with a microphone, a platform, and use of fear for motivation.” 
   
   Mahler ended his Facebook post on the importance of “love in the face of evil. … I could (not) care less what Robert Bowers thinks, but you, the person reading this, love is the only message I wish to instill in you. If my actions mean anything, love means everything.” 
   
   Stephen Huba is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Stephen at 724-850-1280, shuba@tribweb.com or via Twitter @shuba_trib. ||||| Sign up for one of our email newsletters. 
   
   Dr. Jeff Cohen walked into the trauma unit at Allegheny General Hospital, and his eyes locked with synagogue shooting suspect Robert Bowers. 
   
   Cohen, president of the Pittsburgh hospital and a longtime member of the Tree of Life Congregation, wanted to ask Bowers how he was feeling. 
   
   “He’s a very lost guy,” Cohen told the Tribune-Review. “It’s just my impression. It’s not based on fact. I mean, he’s coming off the ambulance yelling ‘kill all the Jews’ and those are the people treating him. That is the height of stupidity.” 
   
   Two of the lead people who immediately treated Bowers at Allegheny General were Jewish, Cohen said. They include the attending emergency room doctor and a registered nurse whose own father is a rabbi, he said. 
   
   Cohen declined to name them but praised them for honoring their profession by putting their emotions aside. 
   
   “It’s hard. You have this internal debate with yourself. Am I going to do what is right? And you do. You do what you think is right,” Cohen said. “The mission here is taking care of people. They didn’t ask anything about him. He was a patient.” 
   
   Not long after treating Bowers, the young nurse broke down in tears. Cohen met with him for about 20 minutes and thanked him for doing his job. 
   
   “He was pretty broken,” Cohen said. “I told him how proud I was. He went home and hugged his parents.” 
   
   Cohen, 63, lives about 50 yards from the Tree of Life Congregation where the mass shooting occurred. He was home on Saturday morning when he heard a loud noise outside. Within minutes, his daughter yelled to him to come downstairs and they watched as police and SWAT teams descended on their street. 
   
   He described the congregation as a safe place where people gather daily to pray and socialize. His own mother-in-law attends services nearly every day and knew nine of the 11 people who were killed. Cohen knew them, too, pausing to mention Cecil and David Rosenthal, two brothers killed in the massacre. 
   
   “The Rosenthal brothers were both handicapped. They were very comfortable there. This is the Jewish version of ‘Cheers.’ Everybody knew their names. This was their home,” Cohen said. 
   
   Cohen, who has been president of Allegheny General Hospital for two years, said that on Sunday night he became more and more curious about meeting Bowers. The suspect was being treated for gunshot wounds and had been placed in isolation to allow police to guard him while he received treatment. 
   
   “I just wanted to see him with my own eyes,” he said. “He had a mother once, or maybe still does. He was loved by a family. How do you get from here to there? I wanted to have my own impression.” 
   
   His conclusion: “He’s not the face of the devil. He’s just a guy who committed a very heinous act.” 
   
   Luis Fábregas is editor of the Tribune-Review’s Valley News Dispatch and Pittsburgh digital editions. You can contact Luis at lfabregas@tribweb.com or via Twitter @LuisTrib. ||||| After last week’s deadly shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, the suspected shooter, Robert Bowers, was rushed to Allegheny General Hospital. Bowers had been wounded during a shoot-out with police. Two of the men who treated him at Allegheny General were themselves Jewish. 
   
   The president of the hospital, Dr. Jeff Cohen, was a member of the Tree of Life synagogue. Cohen told the media last week that two of the people who treated Bowers were Jewish: the ER doctor, and a registered nurse. Cohen described Bowers as “lost” and said that the registered nurse, a young man, broke down in tears after treating him. 
   
   Now the nurse has come forward with an emotional Facebook post about his experience treating Bowers. His name is Ari Mahler. Here’s what you need to know: 
   
   1. Mahler Says Bowers Yelled ‘Death to All Jews’ as He Was Wheeled Into the Emergency Room 
   
   Mahler wrote that Robert Bowers didn’t seem evil — instead, Mahler said, the alleged shooter seemed confused and lost. Mahler speculated that Bowers was a lonely, easily-led man who had been influenced by others. The nurse wrote, 
   
   “I didn’t see evil when I looked into Robert Bowers’ eyes. All I saw was a clear lack of depth, intelligence, and palpable amounts of confusion. Robert Bowers probably had no friends, was easily influenced by propaganda, and wanted attention on a sociopathic level. He’s the kind of person that is easily manipulated by people with a microphone, a platform, and use fear for motivation.” 
   
   Mahler said that he never told Bowers that he was Jewish. He said he didn’t want to go into detail about his interactions with Bowers, but he did say that the suspect thanked him for his kindness and for saving his life. Mahler wrote that he treated Bowers just the same way as he treats all of his patients. But he also wrote that, as Bowers was being wheeled into the emergency room, he yelled, “Death to all Jews!” 
   
   Jeff Cohen, the president of Allegheny General Hospital, said that after Bowers’ treatment Mahler came to him in tears, overwhelmed by what had just taken place. 
   
   2. Mahler’s Father Is a Retired Rabbi 
   
   Mahler’s father is Rabbi Mark Joel Mahler, who served as the rabbi of Temple Emanuel, a reform synagogue in South Hills, from 1980 until 2018. Rabbi Mahler retired in June of 2018. 
   
   The rabbi was known for his use of music; he played guitar and sang during Sabbath services, and he led the synagogue’s band. Several of his children (not Ari) also participated in the band. Rabbi Mahler was also a member of the South Hills Interfaith Ministries and the National Conference of Christian and Jews. 
   
   Rabbi Mahler and his wife Alice have four children: Ari, Shoshana, Moshe, and Shira. 
   
   3. Mahler Says He Often Experienced Anti-Semitism Growing Up 
   
   Ari Mahler wrote that he was not shocked by the Pittsburgh shooting; the Pittsburgh native says that anti-Semitism is nothing new for him. As a boy, he says, he often experienced bullying because he was Jewish. He described finding swastikas scrawled on his locker at school, or finding pictures of his family being sent to the gas chamber. And, Mahler writes, he never managed to confront the bullying head-on: 
   
   “I experienced anti-Semitism a lot as a kid. It’s hard for me to say if it was always a product of genuine hatred, or if kids with their own problems found a reason to single me out from others. Sure, there were a few Jewish kids at my school, but no one else had a father who was a Rabbi. I found drawings on desks of my family being marched into gas chambers, swastikas drawn on my locker, and notes shoved inside of it saying, “Die Jew. Love, Hitler.” It was a different time back then, where bullying was not monitored like it is now. I was weak, too. Rather than tell anyone, I hid behind fear. Telling on the people who did this would only lead to consequences far worse.” 
   
   Mahler also says that he developed defense mechanisms to shield himself from anti-Semites. He got into the habit of telling people that he isn’t very religious. Mahler wrote that even people who view Judaism positively often seem to feel uncomfortable when they meet Jewish people. And so, he says, he’s learned over the years how to ease awkward moments by deflecting attention from his Jewishness. 
   
   4. Mahler Worked as a Financial Consultant Before Going to Work as a Nurse 
   
   Ari Mahler was an honors student at the University of Maryland, graduating in 1999 with a BA in English. Mahler went on to work as a loan officer for American Equity, and then as a financial consultant for PNC. 
   
   Then, in 2013, Mahler enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Nursing, again earning honors and graduating the next year as a registered nurse. Mahler found work as a registered nurse at Magee Women’s Hospital; he switched to working at Allegheny General in March of 2018. 
   
   5. Mahler Concluded His Facebook Post With a Plea for Love in the Face of Evil 
   
   Mahler wrote movingly about his decision to treat Bowers with “compassion” and “empathy.” He wrote that he never told Bowers that he was Jewish, and just treated him with the same care that he would use on any patient. He wrote, “I wanted him to feel compassion. I chose to show him empathy. I felt that the best way to honor his victims was for a Jew to prove him wrong.” 
   
   Mahler wrapped up his Facebook post with a plea. He wrote, 
   
   “Love as an action is more powerful than words, and love in the face of evil gives others hope. It demonstrates humanity. It reaffirms why we’re all here. The meaning of life is to give meaning to life, and love is the ultimate force that connects all living beings. I could care less what Robert Bowers thinks, but you, the person reading this, love is the only message I wish to instill in you. If my actions mean anything, love means everything.”
target: – An Allegheny General Hospital nurse who treated Robert Bowers, the man suspected of killing 11 at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, after the shooting has stepped forward via a public Facebook post, and he clarifies his identity: "I am The Jewish Nurse." His name is Ari Mahler, and per TribLIVE, he and an ER doctor were two Jewish medical professionals who tended to Bowers, even after he was reportedly wheeled into the hospital yelling, "Death to all Jews." In his post, Mahler doesn't get into too many specifics about his interaction with Bowers, citing privacy laws, but he reveals how as a kid—he was one of four children of a rabbi, per Heavy.com—he dealt with anti-Semitism, and that even as an adult he plays his religion down as a deflection. He notes he didn't tell Bowers he was Jewish, instead choosing to "show him empathy." And also "love." "I could care less what Robert Bowers thinks, but you, the person reading this, love is the only message I wish [to] instill in you," he writes. Mahler, who initially worried his own parents could've been among the synagogue victims, says what happened didn't shock him and that "it’s only a matter of time before the next one happens," adding although "my heart yearns for change … today's climate doesn't foster nurturing, tolerance, or civility." He also notes he didn't see "evil" when he looked into Bowers' eyes, but "something else." Hospital President Jeff Cohen, who said Mahler came to him in tears after treating Bowers, concurs. "He's a very lost guy," Cohen says of Bowers, per TribLIVE, but "he's not the face of the devil. He's just a guy who committed a very heinous act." Read Mahler's post here. (Also working off of love: Muslims raising money for victims of the shooting.)