'I still take it personally': The El Paso Walmart mass shooter sentencing

Former El Paso Mayor Dee Margo is planning a trip to a federal courtroom Downtown this week to see that an admitted white supremacist is punished for the horror he unleashed on the Borderland.

"I still take it personally," Margo said. "It was an attack on who we are as a community, and I will never forget that."

It's been nearly four years since Patrick Crusius massacred 23 people in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history. Prosecutors say the gunman carried out the attack on El Paso and Juárez Walmart shoppers because of his hatred of Hispanics.

After opening fire at the busy grocery store with a semi-automatic assault rifle on Aug. 3, 2019, the cowardly shooter meekly surrendered to a Texas trooper, avoiding a deadly confrontation with police officers flooding to the shopping center.

In early February, the shooter pleaded guilty to the attack after federal prosecutors announced they would not seek the death penalty on dozens of federal hate and firearms charges.

This week he faces his punishment — likely multiple life sentences in a super-max prison — during a sentencing hearing that begins July 5 at the Albert Armendariz Sr. Federal Courthouse in Downtown El Paso.

The hearing is expected to take several days as dozens of victims, family members and community members will give victim impact statements.

For many in the community, the long-delayed conclusion of the federal case against the shooter comes with a sense of disappointment.

"It's partial justice," said Margo, who led the city through the mass shooting. "These trials should have occurred a lot sooner than they have. We can't finalize any sense of closure until this is all done."

This week's hearing is expected to end with the gunman being sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences, meaning he will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Robbed of full justice

The expected life sentences come after the U.S. Attorney's Office chose not to pursue the death penalty. It was a move that robbed the community of full justice, Margo said.

More: El Paso Walmart mass shooter: What to know before July 5 federal sentencing

"My only disappointment was that the federal trial did not allow for the potential of the death penalty," he said.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas directed all questions on the decision not to seek the death penalty to the U.S. Department of Justice. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the past, the Department of Justice has declined to comment on the issue.

The only public discussion by the U.S. government on the decision was a one-sentence notice filed in federal court by prosecutors.

The notice, which was filed in January, states: "The United States of America hereby notifies the Court and Defendant Patrick Wood Crusius that the Government will not seek the death penalty in the instant case."

The decision by the government in this case does not follow what is happening in other cases, Margo said. The U.S. Attorney's Office, for example, sought the death penalty against a man convicted on murder and terrorism charges in connection with striking and killing eight pedestrians with a truck in 2017 on a New York City bike path.

While federal prosecutors were seeking the death penalty in that case, the man was sentenced in March to life in prison after a jury was unable to reach a decision on the death penalty, the Associated Press reported.

"I think what's disingenuous about it is that in certain cases, even though our (U.S.) Attorney General Merrick Garland, has said no, he will not apply the death penalty, there were some cases that were being tried of a similar nature that they determined they could allow the death penalty in a federal hate crimes case," Margo said. "So that's my biggest regret."

Racial rhetoric that caused shooting remains problem

Prominent community activist Fernando Garcia, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights, also questions how the Borderland community could feel any sense of justice or safety as racist rhetoric, which led to the mass shooting, continues toward Hispanics.

"I think there's not going to be healing with this sentencing because people are still looking for justice and they're still in the process of not only mourning, but also healing, which we haven't achieved as a community yet," Garcia said. "Unfortunately the same reasons and the same rhetoric and narrative that actually created the conditions for this attack, for this terrorist to come to El Paso to kill Mexicans, that narrative is still out there in Texas and across the nation."

He continued, "I hope that the sentencing will have some kind of impact on that narrative that has demonized immigrants and especially Mexicans."

Acting on racial hatred

The gunman drove nearly 700 miles to El Paso the morning of Aug. 3, 2019, and parked in the East-Central El Paso Walmart at 7101 Gateway Blvd. West, near Cielo Vista Mall.

He then fatally shot 23 people and injured dozens as he began his shooting spree in the parking lot and then into the store.

The gunman, then 21, fled the scene in his car, but minutes after the shooting pulled over and got out of his car with his hands up at a nearby intersection and told a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper, who was responding to the mass shooting, "I'm the shooter."

He was taken into custody.

Prior to the mass shooting, the gunman posted a racist manifesto online outlining his motives for committing the massacre.

More: 'Invasion' language continues after El Paso Walmart shooting

The gunman told law enforcement that "they (Mexicans and other Hispanics) were to blame" and "he was trying to defend his country," federal prosecutors said.

Garcia and members of the Border Network for Human Rights, who plan to attend the sentencing hearing, warn similar attacks remain a threat.

"An incident like this can happen again if we don't do something about it," Garcia said. "We want our community to understand and be aware about the dangers of this hateful narrative, and to denounce it and to actively engage and denouncing not only the attack at the Walmart, but also those politicians that continue using hateful language to demonize people of color and immigrants."

Death penalty being sought by district attorney

While the federal sentencing marks one end to criminal proceedings, the gunman still has state charges pending.

He is facing one count of capital murder of multiple persons and 22 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. A trial date has not been set.

The El Paso County District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty.

The district attorney's decision to pursue the death penalty is the right call, Margo said.

"We had an evil white supremacist enter our community from 700 miles away, and as I've said on numerous occasions since that day, I do not believe that person would've ever come from our region at all," Margo said. "I would like to see a maximum penalty for him. If life in prison is all that's available for under the federal crime then so be it. But I want to see him tried under state law with capital murder, where there is a possibility of a death sentence."

While community members still heal and mourn for those lost in the mass shooting, Margo said the community has stood together throughout the tragedy.

"It will never define us," Margo said. "It will be a part of our history, but it will be relegated as a footnote to the history of our region. And it is a regional issue. It's not just El Paso. It is Juárez and southern New Mexico. It is a region and we have been one region since 1659. I continue to ache for the families that lost their loved ones and I hurt for our community that we had to go through what we went through on August 3, 2019."

Aaron Martinez may be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT

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This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Justice still sought as Walmart mass shooter faces federal sentencing