Mexico to monitor mass shooter’s pending state trial
Foreign Ministry says life sentences in federal court send strong statement against ‘violence and xenophobia’
Mexican consul general Mauricio Ibarra (left) delivers a speech in honor of the victims of the 2019 Walmart shooting while El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser (center) and El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego listen. (File photo)
maylen
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The Mexican government says it will monitor the upcoming state criminal trial against a man convicted in federal court of hate crimes related to killing 23 people in El Paso nearly four years ago, including nine Mexican citizens.
The Foreign Ministry also commended Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Guaderrama for imposing 90 consecutive life sentences on Patrick Wood Crusius. The North Texas resident on Aug. 3, 2019, drove to El Paso with an assault rifle “to kill Mexicans,” according to investigators.
“This sentence is a clear condemnation against hate speech, xenophobia, white supremacy and acts of violence,” the ministry said in a statement. “The Mexican government will continue to utilize all resources available, so these incidents don’t happen again, and to denounce white supremacist violence.”
The ministry said the Mexican consulate in El Paso will continue to avail its staff to assist survivors of the massacre or relatives of the Mexican victims. The consulate in the past has provided referrals to lawyers in the United States and supported petitions for humanitarian U.S. visas for relatives of the deceased and the injured.
