MEXICO CITY, Aug 7 (NNN-Xinhua) — The Mexican government seeks an active role in the investigation of the mass shooting in the U.S. city of El Paso that claimed the lives of 22 people, eight of them Mexican.
“We want the national prosecutor general’s office to have access to the investigation and, when the time comes, to the corresponding trial,” Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard told reporters at a press conference.
“We have to guarantee that justice is done,” said Ebrard, adding “I don’t think I’m exaggerating if I tell you this is the biggest tragedy we have seen.”
On Saturday in El Paso, Texas a 21-year-old gunman opened fire at a Walmart supermarket largely catering to the local Mexican-American community.
Minutes before using a semiautomatic weapon to massacre his victims, suspected white supremacist Patrick Crusius posted a manifesto against immigrants online.
Another three Mexicans among the scores injured are in a delicate condition, Ebrard said, suggesting that the death toll could rise further.
According to Ebrard, the government is concerned that there may be more potential shooters targeting latinos amid heightened race tensions in the United States.
Prosecutors want to determine whether the gunman has ties to other like-minded people “and whether he wrote the manifesto he published,” said Ebrard.
Mexico has labeled the mass shooting as terrorism, and U.S. prosecutors are reportedly looking at bringing federal terrorism charges against the shooter.
Ebrard said he welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech on Monday, in which the president addressed the shooting and condemned racism.
El Paso lies across the border from the Mexican town of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, and cross-border traffic is heavy as residents of both cities go back and forth to shop, work or study. — NNN-XINHUA
