Mourners take part in a vigil near the border fence between Mexico and the U.S after a mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso U.S. in Ciudad Juarez. August 3, 2019. Photo courtesy of Telesur
LOS ANGELES, Aug 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Back-to-back mass shootings in the US states of Texas and Ohio left 29 dead and dozens injured within 24 hours, rocking the nation and prompting concerns that the US is in the midst of a domestic terrorism crisis spurred by white supremacy.
The motivations remain under investigation in both shooting rampages, with white males in their 20s suspected in each case.
Police believe an online “manifesto” containing a racist screed against Mexicans may belong to the 21-year-old suspected of killing 20 people in majority-Hispanic city of El Paso, Texas on Saturday morning.
In Dayton, Ohio police said it would be “irresponsible” to announce a possible motive for the shooting, which led to the death of nine people – six of them African-American – and the shooter’s sister.
Texas authorities said Sunday that they will seek the death penalty for the El Paso shooting suspect, who surrendered to police.
“The state charge is capital murder so he is eligible for the death penalty. We will seek the death penalty,” El Paso District Attorney Jaime Esparza said on Sunday at a press conference. “Certainly this community is rocked and shocked and saddened by what has happened here yesterday.”
John Bash, the Justice Department attorney for the Western District of Texas, said the federal government is pursuing federal hate crime charges and firearms charges, which also carry the death penalty.
“We are also treating this as a domestic terrorism case,” Bash told reporters. “We are going to do what we do to terrorists in this country, which is deliver swift and certain justice.”
“In my faith, you have this idea that you reap what you sow, and [Trump] is sowing seeds of hatred in this country,” Senator Cory Booker a Democratic presidential candidate said Sunday, echoing sentiment among opposition lawmakers. “This harvest of hate violence that we are seeing right now lies at his feet.”
Trump said Sunday that “perhaps more has to be done” to stop the mass shootings, but also said the attacks are a “mental illness problem.”
“Hate has no place in our country and we are going to take care of it,” Trump said, adding that he will make an announcement on the issue tomorrow.
The El Paso attack occurred Saturday morning at a busy Walmart store; police said the attack may have been racially motivated.
It was the eighth deadliest mass shooting in modern US history
El Paso is a majority-Hispanic city along the US-Mexico border, which prides itself as being one of the safest cities in the US.
Many Mexicans travel to El Paso daily for shopping and other business.
Among the victims were three Mexican nationals, the country’s president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said in a video statement.
Hours after the El Paso attack, in the early morning hours on Sunday, a shooter killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio, in the city’s entertainment district.
The 24-year-old, managed to kill 9 people and injure 27 others within 30 seconds before police “effectively ended” the attack, Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said.
The man, Connor Betts, was killed by police. He attempted to enter a busy bar armed with an assault rife, body armour and an 100-round extended magazine, authorities said.
The weapon was shipped from Texas to Ohio and obtained legally, Biehl said.
The victims ages range from 22 to 57.
“He was prepared to do some serious death in our community,” Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley said during an interview with Meet the Press. “How many cities have to go through mass shootings before somebody does something to change the law?”
Samuel Lerma, Arzetta Hodges and Desiree Qunitana join mourners taking part in a vigil at El Paso High School after a mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, U.S. August 3, 2019. Photo courtesy of Telesur
“We will never know how many lives were saved,” Ohio governor Mike DeWine said.”The assailant was obviously very very close to being able to kill dozens and dozens or more people.”
The string of mass shootings come after a shooter attacked a food festival in Gilroy, California, last week, killing three people before killing himself.
“In less than 24 hours, another American community has been devastated by the tragedy of gun violence, this time in Dayton, Ohio,” Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the Democrats in the House said. “The hearts of all Americans break for the families and friends of those injured and murdered in this act of terror.”
The US has been grappling for years with gun violence and mass shootings.
Out of the nation’s five deadliest mass shootings in modern history, four of them happened within the past decade, and two of them within Trump’s first term as president.
Democratic lawmakers have called for stricter requirements on purchasing weapons and a ban on certain assault-style rifles that have been frequently used in mass shootings.
Democratic leaders have also blasted President Donald Trump for incendiary and racist rhetoric against Central Americans seeking asylum in the US and others.
But many Republican lawmakers have resisted gun control efforts saying they impede constitutional rights, and contend that mass shooters would be stopped sooner if more people carried guns.
“These people are sick,” White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said on Sunday in defence of the president. Mulvaney said the shooter “felt this way for a long time from even before President Trump got elected.”
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