Latino Leaders Say El Paso Shooting Was Domestic Terrorism Targeted At Hispanic Community

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th August, 2019) The El Paso mass shooting that left 22 people dead was a domestic terrorist attack targeting the Hispanic community, US Congressman Joaquin Castro and Hispanic Federation Founder Luis Miranda Jr. said in an open letter co-signed by 37 other Latino leaders.

"So let's call Saturday's heinous act of violence what it is: a carefully calculated and purposeful hate crime targeted at the Hispanic and immigrant community," the leaders said in the letter published in the Washington Post on Tuesday. "It is an act of domestic terrorism."

The Latino leaders wrote that US President Donald Trump is inciting hate, division and bigotry toward immigrants, and added that Trump is providing cover to white nationalists by endorsing hate speech and "tacitly" endorsing violence as well.

Moreover, the Latino leaders urged Congress to hold the Trump administration accountable, pass stricter gun legislation and ensure that groups promoting dangerous conspiracy theories and hate are designated as domestic terrorists.

On Saturday morning, dozens of people were killed when a gunman opened fire in a Walmart shopping center in El Paso. As of Monday, the death toll climbed to 22 while the number of those injured stands at 27. The suspect was identified by police as 21-year-old white supremacist Patrick Crusius.

In another mass shooting incident on Sunday, a gunman killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio. Police said they neutralized the shooter, identified as 24-year-old Conner Betts, in less than a minute.