Patrick Crusius, the El Paso mass shooter, said he believed he was acting at the direction of Trump when he murdered 23 people and wounded 22 others at an El Paso Walmart in 2019, his defense lawyer told El Paso Matters. This wouldn't be the first attack that Trump inspired. According to the outlet, Crusius, now 26, is expected to plead guilty on April 21 to charges of capital murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Via El Paso Matters:
Patrick Crusius believed he was acting at the direction of President Donald Trump when he murdered 23 people and wounded 22 others at an El Paso Walmart in 2019, his defense lawyer told El Paso Matters.
“He thought he had to stop the invasion because that’s what his president was telling him, which is just not rational,” defense attorney Joe Spencer said in his first extended interview about the mass shooting that Crusius said was meant to stop “the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”
“He thought, if he doesn’t do it, then nobody’s going to do it. He’s got to start,” Spencer said.
Donald repeatedly told his base that the United States was being "invaded."
In the interview, Spencer detailed Crusius’ mental health history – he repeatedly said his client had “a broken brain” – and the gunman’s deepening spiral into extremist white nationalist websites such as 4Chan and 8Chan in 2018 and 2019. He said Crusius has a history of mental illness dating to childhood and has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, an illness characterized by auditory and visual hallucinations.
Spencer said Crusius told him that a key event leading to the murderous rampage in El Paso occurred in May 2019 in Panama City Beach, Florida, when Trump spoke at a rally.
At that rally, Donald told his fire-breathing, lint-licking supporters, “Don’t forget, we don’t let [border security agents]and we can’t let them use weapons. Other countries do, but we can’t. I would never do that. But, how do you stop these people?”
“Shoot them,” a rally attendee shouted. Donald smiled and did not push back. The co-president is a stochastic terrorist.
