El Paso Walmart Shooter Sentenced to 90 Consecutive Life Sentences

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Facts

  • Patrick Crusius, the gunman who killed 23 people at an El Paso Walmart on Aug. 3, 2019, was sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences on Friday. The 24-year-old pleaded guilty to 90 federal hate crimes and firearms charges in February after federal prosecutors ruled out a death penalty sentence.1
  • US District Judge David Guaderrama rendered the sentence after three days of hearings at El Paso’s Albert Armendariz Sr. Federal Courthouse. More than 50 people packed the courtroom in addition to others who watched on overflow room monitors.2
  • Crusius, who is White, allegedly went on his rampage with the intention of killing Mexican people and immigrants, and authorities say he posted a xenophobic manifesto just before his deadly attack. Relatives of victims shared their pain at the hearing and confronted Crusius, who sat quietly in his shackles.3
  • Crusius’ lawyer Joe Spencer said his client had a "broken brain," which caused him to commit the US’ deadliest mass shooting connected to a hate crime since 2006. The gunman will move to a maximum-security prison in Colorado.4
  • El Paso County District Attorney Bill Hicks said the federal case against Crusius wouldn’t affect his office’s plan to seek the death penalty against the gunman. While a date hasn't been set, Hicks said state Judge Sam Medrano could call the case to trial in 2024 or 2025.5

Sources: 1Axios, 2USA Today, 3CNN, 4Associated Press, and 5El Paso Times.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by Southern Poverty Law Center. This is yet another consequence of the racist and xenophobic rhetoric espoused by right-wing talking heads. While the GOP may not have pulled the trigger, its support of dangerous conspiracy theories — such as the Great Replacement theory — undoubtedly sowed the seeds that fomented the hatred behind this — and many other — tragedies. It's time the far-right tones down its anti-immigrant stance.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by Newsweek. It's vile to exploit a national tragedy in order to pin one man's racist actions onto the GOP's legitimate concerns about the Left's loose immigration policies. Before pointing their fingers at conservatives, liberals — who notoriously take advantage of minorities every election cycle — should acknowledge their own hypocrisy.