El Paso Walmart shooter Patrick Crusius pleaded guilty to killing 23 people.

A man accused of shooting 23 people at a Walmart store in El Paso in a 2019 racially motivated attack pleaded guilty Wednesday.

Patrick Crusius pleaded guilty to 90 federal charges in connection with a mass shooting in which a 24-year-old man drove over 10 hours from a Dallas suburb to the border with an AK-47 and hundreds of rounds specifically for Hispanics.

The charges included 23 counts of hate crimes resulting in death, 23 counts of using a firearm to commit murder during and in connection with a violent crime, 22 counts of hate crimes involving attempted murder, and 22 count of using firearms. during and in connection with the crime of violence.

Crusius told investigators that he searched the busy department store to make sure it was filled with Hispanics, many of whom crossed the border from Mexico to shop, before opening fire in a parking lot and then entering the store, killing 23 and injuring 22 people. August 3, 2019

“This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas,” he wrote online just minutes before the massacre. “I’m just protecting my country from the cultural and ethnic replacement caused by the invasion.”


Walmart in El Paso shoots suspect Patrick Crusius
Crusius killed 23 people at a Walmart store in El Paso on August 3, 2019.
AP

According to the El Paso Times, the courtroom was packed with victims and family members of those killed in the shooting. Crusius, wearing a blue jumpsuit and covering his face, was handcuffed in front, which were attached to a metal chain around his waist during the petition.

Federal prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty for Crusius. After the abolition of the death penalty, the accused of mass murder may face life imprisonment if his case goes to trial.

Adria Gonzalez, who heard Crusius yell anti-Mexican epithets as she helped shoppers get to the Walmart exit on the day of the shooting, told The Associated Press that the decision to take the death penalty off the table was “a slap in the face for us.” Latin Americans.”


Mourners visit a makeshift memorial on August 12, 2019 outside a Walmart in El Paso.
Crusius drove over 10 hours from Allen, a suburb of Dallas, to El Paso to carry out the massacre.
AP

Former El Paso Mayor Di Margo, who was mayor at the time of the shooting, told the El Paso Times that he planned to attend Crusius’ court hearing on Wednesday. He also attended the funerals of all those killed.

“I kept saying that I don’t think we can recover until he is held accountable,” Margo said. “I am disappointed that the federal death penalty for hate crimes has been abolished due to the determination of the administration. But I also hope that once this is over and his application is considered, it can go to state court and he can be sentenced to death.

“I said from day one that I want him to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and to have the full punishment applied.”


Patrick Crusius, El Paso Walmart shooter
Crusius told investigators that he made sure Walmart was stocked with Latin before proceeding with his brutal murders.
REUTRS

Flowers and candles are left at the memorial five days after the mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso.
As a result of the shooting, 23 people were killed and 22 were injured.
REUTERS

The verdict will be handed down in a federal trial at a later date. Crusius is still facing potential death by lethal injection in the state of Texas case against him, which is completely separate from the federal charges. A date for this trial has not been set.

The case was previously handled by former District Attorney Yvonne Rosales, but she was forced out of her position following allegations of incompetence and mishandling of several cases, including the Walmart shooting, the largest case in the city’s history.

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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

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