El Paso Walmart Shooter Sentenced to 90 Consecutive Life Sentences
The Facts
Patrick Crusius, the gunman who killed 23 people at an El Paso Walmart on Aug. 3, 2019, was sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences on Friday. The 24-year-old pleaded guilty to 90 federal hate crimes and firearms charges in February after federal prosecutors ruled out a death penalty sentence.
US District Judge David Guaderrama rendered the sentence after three days of hearings at El Paso’s Albert Armendariz Sr. Federal Courthouse. More than 50 people packed the courtroom in addition to others who watched on overflow room monitors.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
This is yet another consequence of the racist and xenophobic rhetoric espoused by right-wing talking heads. While the GOP may not have pulled the trigger, its support of dangerous conspiracy theories — such as the Great Replacement theory — undoubtedly sowed the seeds that fomented the hatred behind this — and many other — tragedies. It's time the far-right tones down its anti-immigrant stance.
Republican narrative
It's vile to exploit a national tragedy in order to pin one man's racist actions onto the GOP's legitimate concerns about the Left's loose immigration policies. Before pointing their fingers at conservatives, liberals — who notoriously take advantage of minorities every election cycle — should acknowledge their own hypocrisy.
