A manifesto left online by the young white man accused of killing 20 people and wounding another 26 Saturday in a mall in El Paso, Texas, denounces the “invasion of Texas” by Hispanics, the “cultural and ethical replacement” of whites, and “race mixing” as “selfish,” and then closes by sneering ironically that the media will no doubt characterize him as a “white supremacist.”
Patrick Crusius, the 21-year-old from Allen, Texas, arrested by police at the scene, was identified as the author of the manifesto, posted at the alt-right-friendly 8chan message boards. The incident marks only the most recent in a marked uptick of right-wing terrorist violence committed by red-pilled young men radicalized online by far-right ideologies.
The four-page screed first reported by Scott Stedman on Twitter reads like a regurgitation of most such previous manifestoes left behind by far-right-extremist mass killers, such as the Utoya Island, Norway, and Christchurch, New Zealand, mosque killers. Its only variation is that the El Paso shooter specifically identifies Latino immigrants as the source of his rage.
“In general, I support the Christchurch shooter and his manifesto,” he wrote. “This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas. They are the instigators, not me. I am simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by an invasion.”
The manifesto describes not just his intentions but also the weaponry he intended to use in the mass shooting—namely, an AK-47 semi-automatic rifle, and possibly an AR-15 as well—and his expectation that he would be killed, since capture would be “worse” than dying: “If I’m captured, it will be because I was subdued somehow.”
At one point in the manifesto, he suggests that he intended to avoid targeting white people: “I can’t bring myself to kill my fellow Americans.”
So far, three Mexican nationals have been identified among the dead, and six Mexicans are listed among the wounded.
The killer allegedly entered a Walmart in El Paso at around 10 a.m. Saturday and began shooting at customers there, then made his way to the Cielo Vista Mall next door, where he continued his rampage. Police say he was apprehended without incident.
Medical authorities report several of the wounded victims are in “life-threatening” situations. Nine of them are in critical but stable condition.
In his manifesto, he explained that he hates automation and corporations, and blames them for a stagnant economy. But what drives him to murderous rage is immigration, saying it “can only be detrimental to the future of America.”
Like most such mass killers, he cast himself in a heroic light: “I just want to say that I love the people of this country, but god damn most of y’all are just too stubborn to change your lifestyle,” he wrote. “So the next logical step is to decrease the number of people in America using resources. If we can get rid of enough people, then our way of life can become more sustainable.
He discussed his dreams of making Latinos return to home countries because of the threat of violence in massacres such as the one he intended to commit.
“I am against race mixing because it destroys genetic diversity and creates identity problems,” he explained. “Also because it’s completely unnecessary and selfish.”
Though he described his sympathy for Republicans, he attempted to stave off any attempts to blame Donald Trump’s eliminationist rhetoric for inspiring his terrorism with a disclaimer of sorts:
My ideology has not changed for several years. My opinions on automation, immigration, and the rest predate Trump and his campaign for president. I [am] putting this here because some people will blame the President or certain presidential candidates for the attack. This is not the case. I know that the media will probably call me a white supremacist anyway and blame Trump’s rhetoric. The media is infamous for fake news. Their reaction to this attack will likely just confirm that.
He closed the manifesto by claiming the hero’s mantle: “This is just the beginning of the fight for America and Europe. I am honored to head the fight to reclaim my country from destruction.”
Crusius’s poll tweet.
A Twitter account accredited to the killer featured mostly mainstream right-wing content. However, a poll he created asked readers which of several options was the best way that “POTUS has worked to secure the country so far,” while among the Twitter posts that he liked was one featuring Trump’s name spelled out in a photo with an array of guns, reading: “I’m extremely proud to call Trump my president!”
Texas officials say they are considering filing capital murder charges, which he anticipated in his manifesto too: “Capture in this case [is] far worse than dying because I’ll get the death penalty anyway. Worse still is that I would live knowing that my family despises me.”
