Texas Walmart mass shooter gets 90 consecutive life sentences after killing 23, injuring 22 more
On July 7, Patrick Wood Crusius, 24, was sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences in prison for carrying out a mass shooting at the Cielo Vista Walmart in El Paso, Texas, on August 3, 2019. He shot and killed 23 people and injured 22 more. Back on February 8, the mass shooter from Texas pleaded guilty to a 90-count indictment with 45 counts of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and 45 counts of using a firearm during and in relation to crimes of violence.
Crusius, was sentenced to one life sentence for each count in the indictment, including for hate crime acts that resulted in the deaths of Andre Anchondo, Jordan Anchondo, Arturo Benavides, Jorge Calvillo Garcia, Guillermo Garcia, Leonardo Campos, Angelina Englisbee, Maria Flores, Raul Flores, Adolfo Cerros Hernandez, Alexander Hoffmann, David Johnson, Luis Alfonso Juarez, Maria Legarreta Rothe, Maribel Loya Hernandez, Ivan Filiberto Manzano, Gloria Irma Marquez, Elsa Mendoza Marquez, Margie Reckard, Sara Regalado Monreal, Javier Amir Rodriguez, Teresa Sanchez, and Juan Velasquez.
Crusius was also sentenced for 22 counts of hate crime acts that caused bodily injury and involved attempts to kill 22 people injured in the shooting. In addition to the hate crimes, Crusius was sentenced for 45 firearms violations, including 23 counts of using a firearm in a federal crime of violence resulting in death, and 22 counts of using a firearm in a federal crime of violence.
Crusius previously admitted that he killed and wounded people at the Walmart because of the actual and perceived national origin of the Hispanics he expected to be at the Walmart. He further admitted that he intended to kill everyone he shot.
Crusius also admitted he wrote a manifesto, titled “An Inconvenient Truth,” and uploaded it to the Internet minutes before he commenced his attack. In it, he characterized himself as a white nationalist, motivated to kill Hispanics because they were immigrating to the United States. Crusius admitted to selecting El Paso, a border city, as his target to dissuade Mexican and other Hispanic immigrants from coming to the United States.
“This defendant systematically targeted and killed 23 innocent people, injured 22 more, and forever changed the lives of so many others who witnessed this horrific event, leaving a haunting scar on the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez community and beyond,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas.
“While today’s sentence cannot possibly replace the lives lost or undo the harm done to the survivors and those otherwise impacted by this horrific event, it is our hope this sentence of 90 consecutive life terms brings some finality and peace to those effected. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas will continue to aggressively prosecute those who commit violence because of bias or hate, seeking justice in the names of the victims and their loved ones.”
For more on Crusius, who has been described as a loner and who described himself as a slacker and a former bagger – see the video below.
(Source: DoJ) / (Cover photo of Crusius: Image credit, Twitter)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram
