The man accused of gunning down 23 people at an El Paso Walmart in a racially-motivated 2019 attack pleaded guilty Wednesday.
Patrick Crusius admitted 90 federal charges in connection to the mass shooting in which the now-24-year-old drove over 10 hours from the Dallas suburbs to the border with an AK-47 and hundreds of rounds of ammunition specifically to target latinos.
The charges included 23 counts of hate crimes resulting in death, 23 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a crime of violence, 22 counts of hate crimes involving an attempt to kill and 22 counts of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Crusius told investigators he cased the busy department store to make sure it was filled with latin people — many of whom had crossed over the border from Mexico to shop — before opening fire in the parking lot then entering the store, murdering 23 and wounding 22 on Aug. 3, 2019.
“This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas,” he posted online just minutes before the massacre. “I am simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by an invasion.”
The courtroom was packed with victims and family members of those killed in the shooting, the El Paso Times reported. Crusius, wearing a blue jumpsuit and face covering, was handcuffed at his front which was attached to a metal chain around his waist during the plea.
Federal prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty for Crusius. With capital punishment off the table, the accused mass murderer was still possibly facing life in prison if his case had gone to trial.
Adria Gonzalez, who heard Crusius yell anti-Mexican epithets as she helped shoppers get to the Walmart exits on the day of the shooting, told the Associated Press the decision to take the death penalty off the table was “a slap in the face for us latinos.”
Former El Paso Mayor Dee Margo, who was mayor at the time of the shooting, told the El Paso times he planned to attend Crusius’ arraignment on Wednesday. He also attended the funerals of everyone killed.
“I have said all along that I don’t think we can heal until he has been prosecuted,” Margo said. “I am disappointed that the federal hate crimes death penalty is off the table, due to the administration’s determination. But I am also hopeful that once this is over with, and his plea is adjudicated, it can then go to the state courts and he can be prosecuted with the death penalty.
“I have said from day one, I want him prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and that the full penalty apply.”
A sentencing will take place in the federal trial at a later date. Crusius still faces a potential death by lethal injection in the state of Texas’ case against him, which is entirely separate from the federal charges. No date has been set for that trial.
Former District Attorney Yvonne Rosales had been handling the case before that, but she was forced out of office over accusations of incompetency and mishandling of multiple cases, including the Walmart shooting — the biggest case in the city’s history.
