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U.S. NEWS Friday 7 February 2020
Walmart shooting suspect

charged with federal hate crimes

By MICHAEL BALSAMO and said Thursday morning that shortly before the shooting
CEDAR ATTANASIO he had not yet seen the in- that said it was "in response
Associated Press dictment but hopes federal to the Hispanic invasion of
WASHINGTON (AP) — The prosecutors don't to seek Texas." It cited, as inspira-
man accused of killing 22 his client's execution. tion, a mass shooting in
people and wounding two "Part of the evolution of Christchurch, New Zea-
dozen more in a shooting our society involves un- land, that killed scores of
that targeted Mexicans in derstanding that justice is Muslim residents of that In the is Oct. 10, 2019 file photo, El Paso Walmart shooting sus-
the border city of El Paso, not synonymous with ven- country. pect Patrick Crusius pleads not guilty during his arraignment in
Texas, has been charged geance, because ven- The document parroted El Paso, Texas.
with federal hate crimes. geance disregards the es- some of Trump's immigra- Associated Press
Patrick Crusius, 21, has sential humanity in all of us tion policy rhetoric. El Paso
been charged with 90 and brutalizes us all," Lane residents such as former The president has denied nukkah machete attack
counts under federal hate said. "Part of my job here is Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke, inciting violence. in New York in December
crime and firearms laws for to hopefully convince the who was a candidate for The charges being an- that wounded five people;
his role in the Aug. 3 shoot- Department of Justice that the Democratic presiden- nounced Thursday are a man who opened fire at
ing that authorities said was they are not the depart- tial nomination this year, the latest by federal pros- a synagogue in Pittsburgh
aimed at scaring Hispan- ment of vengeance." accused Trump of promot- ecutors following high- last year; and a man who
ics into leaving the United The federal grand jury that ing harmful stereotypes profile violent incidents. killed a woman when he
States, according to an indicted Crusius found his and fueling the idea that The Justice Department drove into a crowd of pro-
indictment unsealed Thurs- alleged crimes came "after the increase in migrant has brought federal hate testers at a 2017 white na-
day. substantial planning and crossings was a coordi- crimes charges against a tionalist rally in Charlottes-
Federal prosecutors were premeditation." He bought nated "invasion" by Latinos. man suspected in a Ha- ville, Virginia.q
expected to announce the a Romanian-made AK-47-
charges against Crusius of style rifle and 1,000 rounds
Allen, Texas, later Thursday of hallow point ammunition
at a news conference in El online more than six weeks
Paso. Crusius is facing the before he drove 10 hours
death penalty on a state overnight from his grand-
capital murder charge. parents' house in a Dallas
He pleaded not guilty last suburb to El Paso to carry
year. out the attack, according
The shooting happened at to the indictment.
a time when immigration The federal indictment
officials were trying to man- comes as El Paso marks
age a crush of migrants at the six-month anniversary
the U.S.-Mexico border and of the shooting. Last week-
there was political battle end, the commuter town of
over their treatment. El San Elizario planted 22 oak
Paso was the epicenter of trees in honor of the victims.
the influx. President Donald Local news outlets aired re-
Trump has made crack- membrances.
ing down on immigration a The federal charge follows
hallmark of his administra- Crusius' state indictment
tion and the polarizing top- last fall on a capital mur-
ic makes headlines around der charge, which could
the world. also bring a death sen-
Eight Mexican nationals tence. He has been held
were among the victims, without bond since the
and the indictment accus- shooting and kept isolated
es Crusius of targeting peo- from other prisoners, on sui-
ple because of their "actu- cide watch for at least two
al and perceived national months after the shooting.
origin." The Walmart store is Crusius surrendered to po-
popular with shoppers from lice after the attack, say-
nearby Ciudad Juarez, ing, "I'm the shooter," and
Mexico, just on the other that he was targeting Mexi-
side of the Rio Grande from cans, according to an ar-
El Paso. rest warrant.
David Lane, a Colorado- In court documents, pros-
based lawyer representing ecutors said Crusius pub-
Crusius in the federal case, lished a screed online