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American mass murderer (born 1998)
Patrick Crusius
CCTV footage of Crusius exiting the Walmart after massacring 23 shoppers
After the shooting, Crusius drove to the intersection of Sunmount and Viscount. Arriving there, he stopped at the left turn lane, came out of the car with his hands up and identified himself as the shooter toTexas Rangers[17] and an El Paso motorcycle officer.[18] He was then arrested and transported to police headquarters.
Crusius's likeness was used for a meme,Chudjak, a variant of theWojak internet meme. It was initially made to mock users of the4chan/pol/ imageboard, going by the label of "le /pol/ face".[19]
Crusius registered to vote in 2016 as a Republican and had a Twitter account from 2017 that showed a photo ofDonald Trump in the Oval Office. He also had a pro-Trump poll that included responses such as "#BuildTheWall, #NoSanctuaryCities, #KeepGitmoOpen and #BanSyrianRefugees".[20]
Crusius legally purchased aGP WASR-10 semi-automatic rifle and 1,000 rounds of hollow-point ammunition online in June 2019.[6][21] During his first interrogation, he told detectives he had targeted Mexicans, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.[22][23][24][25][8] Crusius was also diagnosed withschizoaffective disorder.[26]
The Walmart where the shooting took place. Photo taken 5 months after the shooting.
Crusius has admitted to posting a manifesto, titledThe Inconvenient Truth, on the online message board8chan shortly before the shooting.[27][28][29] The post includes the suspect's name, and the manifesto identifies the type of weapon used in the attack.[30] Site moderators quickly removed the original post, though users continued to share copies.[30] Claiming to have been inspired by theChristchurch mosque shootings inNew Zealand that killed 51 people earlier the same year,[31] the author expresses support for the perpetrator of the Christchurch shootings[7][32][33] and bemoans grievances[34][35] such asenvironmental degradation,[4][36][32] "cultural and ethnic replacement",[33][37] and a "Hispanic invasion".[1][35][20]
The manifesto states that Democrats would soon control the United States partly due to an increasing Hispanic population,[36] an idea that had gained acceptance for years onright-wing radio shows.[7] Criticizing both theDemocratic Party andRepublican Party[36] for allowing corporations to "import foreign workers",[37] the author describes the shooting as an "incentive" for Hispanics to leave the country, which would "remove the threat" of a Hispanicvoting bloc.[36] While primarily focused on ethnic and racial grievances,[4] the document also expresses fears ofautomation's effects on employment and blames corporations for overusing natural resources.[36]
The arrest warrant affidavit says Crusius waived hisMiranda rights, confessed to detectives that he was the shooter, and admitted that he targeted "Mexicans" during the attack.[22][23][17]
Multiple investigations and jurisdictions were involved with the case. FBI officials in El Paso served multiple warrants in the Dallas area and interviewed acquaintances of Crusius in Dallas and San Antonio.[53]
On February 6, 2020, Crusius was charged with 90 federal charges: 22 counts of committing a hate crime resulting in death, 22 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder, 23 counts of a hate crime involving an attempt to kill, and 23 counts of use of a firearm during a crime.[50][54]
Crusius waived his federal bond hearing on February 12, 2020, during his first federal court appearance.[55] On July 23, 2020, Crusius entered a plea of not-guilty to federal charges.[38] He also waived his arraignment on those charges.[56]
In July 2020, the federal court granted a defense motion for more time to investigate "a number of 'red-flag' mitigation themes" as federal prosecutors decided whether to seek a death sentence. In the motion, the defense said that Crusius had "severe" lifelong neurological and mental disabilities; that he was treated withantipsychotic medication after his arrest; and that he was in a "psychotic state" when arrested.[57]
The trial was delayed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic and the large volume of evidence.[58] At a February 2022 hearing, the defense team requested a trial start date of March 2025 or later, while federal prosecutors asked for a June 2023 trial date. Defense attorneys said they needed more time to comb through 1.76 million files and 763 gigabytes of video obtained through thediscovery process, and told U.S. District JudgeDavid C. Guaderrama that the defense might raise aninsanity defense.[59] In January 2023, federal prosecutors declined to seek the death penalty for Crusius.[60] On February 8, 2023, Crusius pleaded guilty to 90 federalmurder andhate crime charges.[61] Before sentencing, when asked if he felt remorse, he nodded.[62] On July 7, 2023, Crusius was sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences.[63][64]
Crusius was indicted on capital murder charges by a Texas grand jury on September 12, 2019. He pleaded not guilty to capital murder charges at his arraignment on October 10, 2019, at the El Paso County Courthouse.[9] Mark Stevens, a San Antonio criminal defense attorney, was appointed by the state court to represent Crusius, along with defense attorney Joe Spencer.[65][66] On April 28, 2020, prosecutors announced they would be seeking a new capital murder charge following the recent death of a twenty-third victim after he spent nine months in the hospital.[67]
Proceedings in the state trial were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the massive amount of evidence in the case.[58]
El Paso district attorney Bill Hicks has stated that his office intends to pursue the death penalty in the case.[68][69]
In 2025, El Paso District Attorney James Montoya, who replaced incumbent Bill Hicks, announced he would no longer be seeking the death penalty.[70]
"The manifesto's author said their anger toward immigrants predates Donald Trump's presidency, but the language used bears much similarity with the president's vocabulary."[39]
"[S]ome of the language included in the document parroted Trump's own words, characterizing Hispanic migrants as invaders taking American jobs and arguing to 'send them back'."[20]
"Portions of the 2,300-word essay, titled 'The Inconvenient Truth', closely mirror Trump's rhetoric, as well as the language of the white nationalist movement, including a warning about the 'Hispanic invasion of Texas'."[40]
"But if Mr. Trump did not originally inspire the gunman, he has brought into the mainstream polarizing ideas and people once consigned to the fringes of American society [...] Mr. Crusius described legal and illegal immigrants as 'invaders' who are flooding into the United States, a term Mr. Trump has frequently employed to argue for a border wall."[41]
^Twenty of the victims died on the day of the shooting, two others died in the following days, and the 23rd victim initially survived the shooting but later died of his wounds on April 26, 2020.[43][44][45][46]
^abcdefEligon, John (August 7, 2019)."The El Paso Screed, and the Racist Doctrine Behind It".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. RetrievedOctober 26, 2019.The threat of the 'great replacement,' or the idea that white people will be replaced by people of color, was cited directly in the four-page screed written by the man arrested in the killing of 22 people in El Paso over the weekend [...] The shooting in the immigrant-rich town of El Paso on Saturday was among the deadliest attacks in the United States motivated by white extremism since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, according to the A.D.L.
