The white gunman who shot and killed 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas in a racist attack on Hispanic customers has been sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences for the 2019 massacre.
Patrick Crusius, 24, pled guilty earlier this year to almost 50 federal charges of hate crimes – one of the largest hate crime cases in the US.
Crusius was wearing a jumpsuit and shackles and didn’t visibly react as the verdict was announced, the AP noted.
He drove more than 700 miles from his Dallas-area home in order to attack Hispanics with an AK-style rifle at the Walmart, where the shooting took place inside and outside the store, according to police.
Just before he started shooting, Crusius posted a racist message online saying that Texas was at risk of a Hispanic “invasion”.
Republicans have in the years that have passed since the massacre described migrants crossing the US-Mexico border as an “invasion” and dismissed critics arguing that the rhetoric spurs anti-immigrant opinions as well as violence.
Crusius pled guilty in February after federal prosecutors removed the possibility of the death penalty. But prosecutors on the state level in Texas have said that they will attempt to place Crusius on death row at his state court trial, a date for which is yet to be set.
Defence lawyer Joe Spencer told the judge ahead of the sentencing that the 24-year-old’s brain was “broken” and that he had no longer been connected to reality.
“Patrick’s thinking is at odds with reality … resulting in delusional thinking,” the attorney said.
US District Judge David Guaderrama in El Paso handed down the sentence after impact statements lasting two days by relatives of the victims.
Twenty-three people were killed and more than two dozen were injured and others suffered trauma. Family members addressed Crusius directly.
“You left children without their parents, you left spouses without their spouses, and we still need them,” Bertha Benavides said. She lost her husband, Arturo, after 34 years of marriage.
Crusius initially didn’t show much emotion during the statements, but on Thursday, his eyes appeared to well up as victims spoke about the shooting and demanded that respond and account for what he did. After speaking to his lawyer, Crusius made a gesture to indicate that he wouldn’t reply.
During the sentencing, Crusius’s family wasn’t present. A dozen mass shootings have been connected to mass shootings since 2006, with this one being the deadliest, according to the AP.
Before the shooting, Crusius had tweeted #BuildtheWall and lauded the restrictive immigration policies of then-President Donald Trump. In the rant he posted before the attack, he shared his concerns that Hispanics was going to be in charge of the government and the economy.
Amaris Vega lost her aunt in the shooting and her mother managed to survive despite suffering a wound the size of a softball to her chest.
Ms Vega spoke about the gunman’s “pathetic, sorry manifesto” which outlined his intention to get rid of all Hispanics in Texas.
“But guess what? You didn’t. You failed,” she said in court. “We are still here and we are not going anywhere. And for four years you have been stuck in a city full of Hispanics … So let that sink in.”
Margaret Juarez lost her 90-year-old father in the shooting while her mother was wounded but survived. She noted that it was ironic that Crusius is set to spend the rest of his life behind bars alongside minority inmates.
Others in the room broke into applause when she spoke of their freedom.
“Swim in the waters of prison,” she told the shooter. “Now we’re going to enjoy the sunshine … We still have our freedom, in our country.”
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