Act of terrorism: Swift justice promised
As country reels from the carnage, US district attorney promises decisive action
The El Paso massacre, in which 20 people died, is being treated as terrorism by the US authorities amid mounting fears of the threat posed by white nationalists.
As the country reeled from the carnage wrought by a gunman wielding an assault rifle at a Texas shopping mall, John Bash, the US district attorney, promised decisive action.
“We are treating it as a domestic terrorism case, and we’re going to do what we do to terrorists in this country,” Bash said, “which is deliver swift and certain justice.”
Jaime Esparza, the El Paso district attorney, said that he would seek the death penalty.
According to the New York Times, at least 32 mass shootings have claimed three or more lives this year.
The weekend’s death toll led to renewed calls by Democrats for stricter gun curbs, including introducing background checks and banning assault weapons.
However, fears that the El Paso killings had a racist element dominated the debate.
Attention focused to the threat posed by the far-right after the discovery of a lengthy racist manifesto reportedly left by Patrick Crusius, 21, from Allen in Dallas, Texas, the man named by US media as the suspect in the slaughter, and who was arrested shortly afterwards.
The El Paso massacre was the third high-profile attack linked to the farright in less than five years.
Last October, 11 people died after a mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. According to a criminal complaint, Robert Bowers, 46, who is accused of the synagogue killings, reportedly said he wanted all Jews to die.
In 2015, nine people were killed in an attack on a black church in Charleston, South Carolina. Dylann Roof, who was convicted of the multiple murders, said he wanted to start a race war.
“We’ve got to acknowledge the
hatred, the open racism that we’re seeing. There is an environment of it,” said Beto O’Rourke, a presidential candidate who represented El Paso in Congress. Other leading Democrats rounded on Donald Trump, whom they accused of not only failing to act against racist groups but stoking hatred with his rhetoric, including his recent attack on four ethnic-minority congresswomen last month.
“There is a need to stand up to white nationalist terrorism. We have to call it for what it is if we are going to fight,” said Pete Buttigieg, another candidate for the Oval Office.
“There is a need for a president who will stand up to white nationalist terror,” he told CNN.
“After 9/11 we swore up and down we were going to be different. We said this was going to change us. We said that being attacked by terrorists was going to make us better than we were. Is being attacked by terrorists now, home-grown white nationalist
terrorists, going to make us better?”
Richard Wiles, the El Paso county sheriff, could not contain his anger: “This Anglo man came here to kill Hispanics. I’m outraged and you should be too. This entire nation should be outraged.
“In this day and age, with all the serious issues we face, we are still confronted with people who will kill another for the sole reason of the colour of their skin.”
The Walmart supermarket is 10 minutes’ drive from the Bridge of the Americas, which links the city to Mexico and is a popular destination for Mexican tourists.
This Anglo man came here to kill Hispanics. I’m outraged and you should be too. This entire nation should be outraged. Richard Wiles, El Paso county sheriff