Preface: this article will not name the shooter. We believe this only glorifies the killings in the shooter’s own mind, and the minds of others like him. Instead, we wish to celebrate the lives of the victims, and leave the murderer to be forgotten by history.
“We’re going to do what we do to terrorists in this country, which is to deliver swift and certain justice,”
U.S. Attorney John Bash
At least 20 are dead and dozens more are injured following the latest in America’s long trend of mass shootings. Saturday, 3 August, a 21-year-old man walked into a Walmart in the Cielo Vista area of El Paso, Texas with an AK-pattern rifle and murdered 20 people in cold blood before being captured alive by authorities. The shooter released a manifesto on a public forum shortly before the shooting, which cited racist and xenophobic motivations for the attack. He claims that his actions are a direct response “to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” He continues, “They are the instigators, not me,” it says. “I am simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by an invasion.”
In a press conference Saturday, law enforcement officials said they were exploring whether a four-page manifesto titled “[REDACTED]” posted to the extremist online forum [REDACTED] shortly before the shooting, was written by suspect [REDACTED], a 21-year-old white man from a town near Dallas.
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[REDACTED] allegedly walked into a Walmart in El Paso late Saturday morning and opened fire on shoppers and employees. Security footage of the scene shows a man entering the building and holding a long firearm.
The manifesto describes a mass attack as a response “to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”
“They are the instigators, not me,” it says. “I am simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by an invasion.”
The manifesto includes overwhelmingly racist, xenophobic and anti-immigrant rhetoric. HuffPost has reviewed the manifesto but will not provide a link to it.
Carla Herreria, Huffington Post
John Bash, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas says the suspect will likely be charged with “domestic terrorism,” and “coercing and intimidating a civilian population.” Additional charges like hate crimes are also on the table, given the release of the manifesto the shooter posted on a public forum before the attack. Bash says these charges may carry the death penalty. “We’re going to do what we do to terrorists in this country, which is to deliver swift and certain justice,” comments Bash.
This attack is one of two that happened this weekend. Another attack in Dayton, Ohio left 9 people dead around 1 a.m. this morning. Currently the second attack is not known to be right-wing motivated. Despite legislative inaction on gun control proposals, Americans are growing more and more weary of the attacks.
This latest attack is just one in a string of attacks connected by one thing: radical right-wing extremism. Recently, the FBI released a report warning the US about the growing threat of right-wing extremism. Instead of heeding the agency’s warning, President Trump and other conservative lawmakers have instead targeted anti-fascists, the main opponents to right-wing extremism, drawing criticism domestically and abroad.
Update: as of Monday, 5 August, a 21st victim has died in the hospital.
WriteLeft 