Perpetrator of El Paso massacre that sought to 'kill Mexicans' pleads guilty

Patrick Crusius pleaded guilty Wednesday to multiple federal charges for the 2019 shooting at an El Paso, Texas, supermarket that left 23 dead and 22 wounded, including eight Mexicans.

Crusius, 24, took responsibility after the US Department of Justice decided not to seek the death penalty for the attack, qualified as internal terrorism and hate crime.

The federal court where Crusius, dressed in a blue prison outfit, handcuffed and chained around his waist, pleaded guilty was full of families of the fatalities and dozens of people who were affected by the shooting.

At least another 200 people who could not access the court directed by federal judge David C. Guaderrama they saw the audience in an adapted room where the hearing was broadcast on television, according to the newspaper El Paso Times.

Despite today's statement, the young man still has to face state prosecution, where may face capital punishment.

The guilty plea occurs on the date that the trial had been proposed to begin. trial in federal case.

The attack occurred on August 3, 2019 at an El Paso Walmart store that I regularly visit.buyers from Mexico and border residents occur and represented the first massacre allegedly targeting the Hispanic community in the United States.

The defendant confessed to the police when he was arrested that their objective was to kill “Mexicans” and acknowledged that he was the one who opened fire on the crowd, according to investigation documents.

Crusius drove nearly 10 hours from the town of Allen, where he resided, to carry out the massacre and allegedly posted a manifesto online stating that the attack was a “response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

The young man began the attack in the parking lot and then entered the store, where he kept shooting with an AK-47 military-style rifle.

Through his lawyers, Crusius later He pleaded not guilty in state and federal court.

In addition to the 23 deaths, 22 people were injured and dozens more with scratches and bruises as they fled the store.

In October of last year, a state judge decided defer the start of the trial until the federal prosecution commenced, among other arguments.

(With information from EFE)