The alleged author of the killing in El Paso is accused of 90 hate crimes
Patrick Crusius, the alleged perpetrator of the massacre of August 3, 2019 at a mall in El Paso (Texas), which cost the lives of 22 people, was charged with 90 federal charges of hate crimes, the Department said Thursday of Justice of the United States.
In Texas State Court, federal prosecutor John Bash filed the 90 charges for which Crusius, originally from Allen's Texan population, will be tried, in addition to the homicide charges he already faces.
These are charges for hate crimes that resulted in death, charges for hate crimes with intent to kill and charges for firing a firearm in relation to a hate crime, taking into account the manifesto he wrote against Mexicans to who was directed his attack.
In addition to Bash, the United States attorney for the Western District of Texas, the press conference Eric Dreiband, deputy attorney general, and Luis Quesada, special FBI agent in charge of the El Paso office were present.
"It would not have been possible to announce the charges that were announced today had it not been for the exchange of information and the existing collaboration, and although it is my wish that we would never have had to open this type of investigation, I am proud of the work done by the FBI and for our collaborators, "Quesada told the media.
It is expected that next Wednesday, February 12, Patrick Crusius, 21, will appear for the first time in federal court before Judge Miguel Torres, where he will be formally presented with the federal charges of which he is accused.
The alleged perpetrator of the shooting, in which 22 people died and 25 were injured of varying severity, confessed to the police when he was arrested that his goal was to kill "Mexicans." Of the 22 killed in the shooting, 8 were Mexican citizens.
Crusius told police that it was he who opened fire on a crowd at a Walmart shopping center in the border city where many Mexican citizens usually go to buy.
