hours from Alen, a town near Dallas, to target the store in El Paso, a city on the border with Mexico that has
long been a home to immigrants. An online posting apparently written several days ago, said the attack was
a response to the “Hispanic invasion of Texas”.
“Even if other non-immigrant targets would have a greater impact, I can’t bring myself to kill my fellow
Americans,” it said. “In short, America is rotting from the inside out, and peaceful means to stop this seem
to be nearly impossible. The inconvenient truth is that our leaders, both Democrat AND Republican, have
been failing us for decades.”
CNN said that Facebook was working with police in the aftermath of the shooting to remove a Facebook
and Instagram account associated with the suspect. “Our thoughts are with the victims and their families,”
the company said in a statement. “Content that praises, supports or represents the shooting or anyone
responsible violates our community standards and we will continue to remove as soon as we identify it.”
At a press conference, Texas governor Greg Abbot – who has long been a supporter of gun rights and and
an opponent of effort to regulate the sale or carrying of weapons – described the incident as one of the of
the deadliest days in history of Texas.
On Twitter, he wrote: “Now in the beautiful city of El Paso. Texans grieve today for the people of this
wonderful place. We ask God to bind up the wounds of all who’ve been harmed.”
A CCTV image of the alleged gunman entering
the Walmart store (AFP/Getty)Meanwhile, Donald Trump, who has placed anti-immigration rhetoric at the centre of his re-election
campaign and who was recently formally condemned by the House of Representatives for a series of racist
tweets in which he told four Democratic congresswomen to go back to where they came from, said the
incident was terrible.
“Working with state and local authorities, and law enforcement,” the president wrote. “Spoke to governor
to pledge total support of federal government. God be with you all!”
The document believed to have been written by the suspect claimed the president’s words had not been his
inspiration. It also spoke in support of the Christchurch mosque shootings, in which 51 people were killed
in two consecutive attacks in New Zealand in March.
“I know that the media will probably call me a white supremacist anyway and blame Trump’s rhetoric,” it
said. “The media is infamous for fake news. Their reaction to this attack will likely just confirm that.”
El Paso police chief Greg Allen said authorities believed that the manifesto from the suspect indicated there
was a “potential nexus to a hate crime”. He said the suspect was taken into custody without incident when
confronted by police and was being questioned.
Democrat congresswoman Veronica Escobar, who represents El Paso, said: “The manifesto narrative is
fuelled by hate, racism, bigotry and division. El Paso is a community that has shown nothing but generosity
and kindness to the least among us: those people arriving at America’s front door.”