Attack in El Paso

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In the attack in El Paso on August 3, 2019 , a suspected right-wing extremist killed 22 people and injured another 24, some seriously, in a Walmart supermarket in El Paso , Texas. Before the attack, the perpetrator had published a four-page statement on the 8chan platform in which he announced his act and justified it. With often contradicting statements, he combined his racist point of view with speculation about politics, economy and ecology.

Sequence of events

The target of the attack, a branch of the retail chain Walmart, is located in the southeast of the Texas city of El Paso. The assassin entered the supermarket armed with a WASR-10 semi-automatic rifle on the morning of August 3, 2019; the first emergency calls were received by the police at 10:39 am local time. According to eyewitness reports and cell phone videos, he was already shooting people in the parking lot in front of the supermarket. The police arrived on the scene six minutes after the first emergency calls were received. The assassin surrendered outside the building and was arrested without resistance.

According to police estimates, there were around 1,000 to 3,000 customers and around 100 Walmart employees on the premises at the time.

Victim

At the site of the attack, 20 people died and 26 others were injured. Two of the injured died in the hospital two days after the attack. The death toll rose to 22. According to the police, thirteen US citizens, eight Mexicans and one German were killed in the attack. Authorities published a list of the victims' names and newspapers researched them.

Suspect and Motive

Police arrested 21-year-old Patrick Wood Crusius (* 1998) from Allen, Texas . ATF and FBI took over the investigation.

Before the attack, Crusius lived with his grandparents in Allen, 1050 kilometers from the crime scene, and last until six weeks before the attack. His parents got divorced in 2011. The mother works as a nurse. The father is an independent alternative practitioner and addiction counselor; In 2014 he published a book about his own decades of addiction to prescription drugs after being diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood and being prescribed benzodiazepines and antidepressants. Crusius graduated from high school in 2017 and was enrolled in Collin College through spring 2019 . Classmates described him as a quiet loner. According to Bellingcat , the suspect's Twitter profile featured the image of a relatively normal Donald Trump supportive Republican . However, the last postings were published in April 2017 and the profile has remained unused since then. Two police officers confirmed to ABC News that Crusius stated shortly after his arrest that he wanted to murder as many Mexicans as possible.

In the right-wing radical forum / pol / on the 8chan page , a post was published at 10:15 a.m., almost 25 minutes before the attack, in which the crime was announced. In the four-page pamphlet entitled The Inconvenient Truth (dt. The Inconvenient Truth ) - possibly deliberately based on the eponymous film with Al Gore as overwritten - an agreement on the introduction in the terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch is pronounced in March 2019 , the assassin warns of a " Latin American invasion of Texas", of a replacement of the dying baby boomer generation by Latinos , which, driven by industry, is in full swing; Furthermore, before a permanent government of the Democratic Party , which could be sure of the votes of immigrants due to its immigration-friendly policies, and spoke of a race war in which the number of recently immigrants must be reduced in order to save the United States ecologically and culturally. This points to Donald Trump's rhetoric, but the assassin stresses that he had these thoughts even before Trump's candidacy for the presidency. For the United States, he proposes territorial segregation in order to preserve cultural and genetic racial identities. He extensively complains about the poor state of the US environment in his opinion, sees industry and agriculture as polluters and his fellow citizens as unteachable and incapable of giving up their environmentally harmful way of life, which is why reduction is essential. Authorized by his ancestors through the right to own weapons, it is "error-free" to defend oneself; on the contrary, he regrets the Europeans who cannot. He describes his weapons in detail and gives tips on which targets should be attacked and which should not. Great fear of changes in the conditions in his country, dead trust in democracy, the state in general, the economy and fellow citizens, as well as the complete lack of awareness of the Christian ban on killing characterize this declaration. With reference to the terrorist attack in Christchurch and for the first time since the series of attacks by the “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski , an eco-fascist argument emerged again in a letter confessing to an attack in the United States.

A document containing the name of the assassin was also attached to the post. Police investigators said they were "relatively certain" that the manifesto was written by Crusius. Jim Watkins, the owner of 8chan, said the manifest was not posted on his platform by the assassin. Instead, it first appeared on Instagram and was then uploaded to 8chan by someone else. He did not provide any evidence for this statement. A spokesman for the Instagram parent company Facebook said at the request of the mirror that he could not confirm Watkins' theory.

Reactions

On the same day, US President Donald Trump condemned the attack as hateful and cowardly. Speaking at a press conference at the White House on August 5, Trump said, “Our nation must condemn racism, fanaticism and white supremacy with one voice . These dark ideologies must be fought. Hate has no place in America. ”In connection with the Dayton attack 13 hours later , Donald Trump called for the nationwide reintroduction of the death penalty in the United States for such crimes, although it can already be imposed for hate crimes. At the same time, Trump called for background checks on "mentally unstable" gun buyers. On August 7, 2019, he visited the crime scenes in El Paso and Dayton and spoke to survivors and loved ones of the dead. When Trump visited El Paso to speak to victims and helpers, protests rose: he was accused of having fed racism through his rhetoric, because he too had one in justifying his goal of curbing immigration from Mexico “Invasion” spoken. In addition, a tightening of the gun laws was called for.

Obama generally criticized the language of fear and hatred. Other members of the US Democrats such as former Vice President Joe Biden , Elizabeth Warren , Bernie Sanders , Cory Booker , Pete Buttigieg and Julián Castro called for the fight against racism and the tightening of gun laws. There were voices from among the Republicans targeting gun ownership restrictions, such as age, mental health, or criminal history of the gun buyer. Texas Senator Ted Cruz , son of an exiled Cuban , was "deeply appalled by the hateful anti-Hispanic bigotry" in the assassin's manifesto and the "heinous act of terrorism and white supremacy." However, he made no suggestion of any action Congress might take to prevent such shootings from occurring in the future.

The human rights organization Amnesty International called on travelers to the USA to be more cautious after the attack. Because of the “omnipresence” of firearms, tourists should always have an emergency plan.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ What's inside the hate-filled manifesto linked to the alleged El Paso shooter In: The Washington Post, August 4, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  2. ↑ a b Konstantin Nowotny: Fascism in green? . In: the Friday of August 5, 2019. Retrieved on August 11, 2019.
  3. ↑ Byron York: Has anyone actually read the El Paso manifesto? . In: The Washington Examiner, August 7, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  4. ↑ El Paso massacre suspect wrote an anti-immigrant 'manifesto' before the attack, authorities say - dallasnews.com. August 3, 2019, accessed on August 5, 2019 .
  5. ^ Guardian staff: El Paso shooting: what we know . The Guardian Online. 4th August 2019.
  6. ↑ El Paso eyewitness says gunman with rifle opened fire in parking lot, before heading into Walmart. Retrieved August 5, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Video shows shooting victims lying in El Paso Walmart parking lot - CNN Video. Retrieved August 5, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Chas Danner: Everything We Know About the El Paso Walmart Massacre. August 5, 2019, accessed on August 5, 2019 .
  9. ^ The El Paso shooting victims: What we know . In: Los Angeles Times, August 9, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  10. ↑ Zeit Online: El Paso: 20 dead after shooting in a mall in Texas . In: The time . August 4, 2019, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed August 5, 2019]).
  11. ↑ Tucker Higgins: El Paso shooting death toll rises to 22 . cnbc.com. 5th August 2019.
  12. ↑ Amanda Jackson, Emanuella Grinberg and Nicole Chavez CNN: Police believe the El Paso shooter targeted Latinos. These are the victims' stories. Retrieved August 6, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Texas supermarket shooting leaves 20 people dead . bbc.com. 4th August 2019.
  14. ^ Investigators look for motives in El Paso shooting. Retrieved August 5, 2019 (American English).
  15. ↑ WATCH: Friend Of El Paso Gunman's Grandparents Reads Family's Statement Regarding Mass Shooting . In: dfw.cbslocal.com from August 4, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  16. ↑ Alyssa Choiniere: Patrick Crusius' Dad, John Bryan Crusius: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know . In: heavy.com on August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  17. ↑ Tanya Eiserer, El Paso shooter was anti-social loner, former classmate says , WFAA (August 4, 2019).
  18. ↑ White Terror . In: Der Spiegel . 33/2019 of August 10, 2019, pp. 74–78, here p. 76.
  19. ^ A b c Robert Evans: The El Paso Shooting and the Gamification of Terror . Bellingcat . 4th August 2019.
  20. ↑ Alyssa Choiniere: Patrick Crusius: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know , heavy.com. 4th August 2019. 
  21. ↑ Joshua Hoyos: Reported Statement From Shooter . 3rd August 2019.
  22. ↑ Carla Herrerla: El Paso Shooting Suspect May Have Shared Anti-Immigrant Manifesto Before Attack . In: Huffpost.com on August 4, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  23. ↑ Alexander C. Kaufman: El Paso Terrorism Suspect's Alleged Manifesto Highlights Eco-Fascism's Revival . In: Huffpost.com on August 4, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  24. ^ Daniel Politi: El Paso Suspect Reportedly a Trump Supporter Who Wrote Racist, Anti-Immigrant Manifesto . August 3, 2019. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  25. ↑ El Paso shooting suspect 'identified as 21-year-old called Patrick Crusius' . 3rd August 2019. 
  26. ↑ Investigators 'reasonably confident' Texas suspect left anti-immigrant screed. Accessed August 6, 2019 .
  27. ↑ Where did the hate manifesto come from? This is what the 8chan operator says. Der Spiegel, accessed on August 6, 2019 .
  28. ↑ Vandana Rambaran: Trump, 2020 Dems condemn El Paso mass shooting: 'Act of cowardice'. August 3, 2019, Retrieved August 10, 2019 (American English).
  29. ↑ Trump strongly condemns massacres in the USA and announces consequences . In: Tagesschau.de from August 5, 2019 (audio). Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  30. ↑ Trump, the crime scene tormentor: Many politicians would prefer not to visit his site . In: Stern.de from August 7, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  31. ↑ Assassinations in Dayton and El Paso Trump sees no cause for criticism . In: Spiegel Online from August 7, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  32. ↑ US President visits places of massacre: Protests against Trump in El Paso and Dayton . In: tagesspiegel.de from August 8, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  33. ↑ Obama condemns language of hatred - swipe at Trump . In: welt.de on August 6, 2019. Retrieved on August 18, 2019.
  34. ^ Democrats Blame Trump in Blunt Language for Mass Shooting in El Paso . In: Time.com of August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  35. ↑ 2020 Democrats call for action after El Paso shooting . In: thehill.com of August 3, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  36. ^ Republicans struggle to respond in wake of El Paso, Dayton shootings . In: The Washington Post, August 7, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  37. ↑ Amnesty warns US travelers against gun violence. Retrieved August 14, 2019 .
  38. ^ Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com): Amnesty International issues travel warning for US. August 8, 2019, Retrieved August 14, 2019 (UK English).