In the United States, a white gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack on Hispanic customers at a Walmart in a Texas border town was sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms in prison on Friday, but could still face other penalties, including the death penalty.
Patrick Crusius, 24, pleaded guilty earlier this year to nearly 50 federal hate crime charges in connection with the 2019 El Paso shootings, making it one of the largest United States federal justice hate crime cases.
Wearing a jumpsuit and handcuffs, Crusius did not speak during the hearing and did not react when the verdict was read. The judge recommended that he serve his sentence in a high-security prison in Colorado.
Police say he traveled more than 700 miles from his home near Dallas to target Hispanics with an AK-type rifle inside and outside the store. Moments before the attack began, Patrick Crusius posted a racist message online warning of a Hispanic “invasion” of Texas.
In the years since the shooting, Republicans have called migrants crossing the US southern border an “invasion,” ignoring critics who say the rhetoric fuels anti-immigrant views and violence.
Patrick Crusius pleaded guilty in February, after federal prosecutors overturned the death penalty. But Texas prosecutors have said they will try to send him to death row when he stands trial in state court. The trial date has not yet been set.
As he was led out of the courtroom, a family member of one of the victims shouted at Crusius from the rostrum, “We’ll see you again, coward.” No excuses, nothing at all. »
A “broken brain”
Joe Spencer, Crusius’ attorney, told the judge before sentencing that his client was “brain-broken”.
“Patrick’s thoughts are at odds with reality…resulting in delusional thoughts,” Spencer told the court.
Crusius himself was alarmed by his own violent thoughts, and even quit a movie job because of them, his lawyer recalled. He said his client had previously researched online to find ways to improve his mental health and had dropped out of a community college near Dallas due to his struggles.
Mr. Spencer explained that he arrived in El Paso without having a specific target in mind before ending up at Walmart.
“Patrick acted with his broken brain, cemented together by illusions,” the lawyer said.
Faced with his brutality
The sentencing by U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama in El Paso follows two days of statements from relatives of the victims, including Mexican citizens. Besides the dead, more than two dozen people were injured and many others were badly traumatized as they went into hiding or fled.
One after another, family members took their first opportunity since the shooting to speak directly to Patrick Crusius, describing how their lives have been turned upside down by grief and pain. Some have forgiven him. A man showed photos of his slain father, insisting the shooter look at them.
Among the victims is Arturo, who was Bertha Benavides’ husband of 34 years. “You left children without their parents, you left spouses without their spouses, and we still need them,” she told Crusius.
During the first statements of the victims, the accused sometimes swayed in his seat or nodded without showing the slightest emotion. On Thursday, his eyes appeared to widen as victims condemned the brutality of the shootings and demanded that he respond and be held accountable. At one point he consulted a defense attorney at his side and motioned that he would not respond.
Patrick Crusius’ family did not appear in the courtroom during the sentencing phase.
The attack is the deadliest of a dozen mass shootings in the United States linked to hate crimes since 2006, according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University.
Political discourse on immigration
Prior to the shooting, Patrick Crusius seemed engrossed in the national immigration debate, posting #BuildtheWall posts on Twitter praising then-President Donald Trump’s tough border policies. He went further in his rant published before the attack, sounding warnings that Hispanics were going to take over the government and the economy.
As the sentencing phase began, some immigrant rights advocates made fresh calls for politicians to tone down their rhetoric on immigration. Republicans, including Texas Governor Greg Abbott, have been pushing for more aggressive action to strengthen the US southern border.
Amaris Vega’s aunt was killed in the attack and her mother narrowly survived a baseball-sized wound to her chest. In court, she denounced Crusius’ “pathetic and distressing manifesto,” which promised to rid Texas of Hispanics.
“But guess what? You failed. You failed, she told him. We are still here and we are not going anywhere. And for four years you’ve been stuck in a town full of Hispanics… Think about it. »
Among the 23 people killed were young people, such as a 15-year-old high school athlete, but also several elderly grandparents. They were immigrants, a retired municipal bus driver, teachers, artisans, including a former ironworker, and several Mexican nationals who had crossed the US border for routine shopping.
Two teenage girls have said they narrowly escaped the carnage of Patrick Crusius while taking part in a fundraiser for their junior soccer team outside the store. Relatives were injured and coach Guillermo Garcia died a few months later from his injuries.
Both youngsters said they are always haunted by the fear of another shooting when they are in public places.
“He was shot at close range by a coward and his innocent blood was everywhere,” said Kathleen Johnson, whose husband David is among the victims. I don’t know when I will be the same. The pain you have caused is indescribable. »