El Paso WalMart Gunman Sentenced to 90 Consecutive Life Terms

July 07, 2023
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A self-described white nationalist who wrote that Hispanics were “invading” America before fatally shooting 23 people at a Walmart store in El Paso was sentenced on Friday to 90 consecutive life terms for his conviction on federal hate crimes charges.

For two days this week, relatives of victims confronted the gunman during an emotional hearing in federal court, where they called him a coward and described some of the gaping wounds caused by the AK-47-style rifle that he used in the shooting, which also left 22 people injured.

Several of the victims’ relatives had hoped the gunman, Patrick Crusius, would be sentenced to death. Texas prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty when the gunman is tried on murder charges in state court later this year. “Life sentence is not justice for you,” Luis Juarez Jr., who lost his father in the massacre, told the gunman.

The federal sentencing in the attack, one of the deadliest on Latinos in U.S. history, follows a plea agreement in February that recommended that the defendant be imprisoned for life in exchange for pleading guilty to hate crimes and weapons charges.

Source: The New York Times