A Texas man who shot dead 23 people at an El Paso Walmart does not face the federal death penalty, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Patrick Crusius, now 24, opened fire at the grocery store in August 2019 after posting a slew of racist material against Mexicans online and claiming his attack was “in response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”
He will face trial on 90 hate crime charges in January 2024 but will not be federally executed after Joe Biden campaigned for federal abolition of the death penalty and the Attorney General imposed a moratorium in July 2021.
Merrick Garland, the attorney general, said in a memo that “serious concerns” have been raised about the use of the death penalty, “including arbitrariness in its use, the differential impact on people of color, and the worrying number of exonerations in capital and other serious cases.”
In a one-line filing released Tuesday, federal prosecutors wrote, “The United States hereby notifies the court and defendant PATRICK WOOD CRUSIUS that the government will not seek the death penalty in this case.”
However, Crusius could still be executed by the state of Texas. A date for his state trial has not yet been set.
Patrick Crusius “was diagnosed with a severe, lifelong neurological and mental disability,” his attorneys wrote in a court filing. He is pictured in court in October 2019
Jaime, a bank teller who was at the Walmart at the time of the shooting, was visibly upset when El Paso Matters broke the news to her.
“I hope he suffers greatly and spends the rest of his life in prison,” she said.
Another family who lost a loved one in the shooting told the newspaper they wanted him to face the death penalty at the state level, even if not at the federal level.
Chris Antcliff, a former judge at the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, told the newspaper he was disappointed with the decision.
“This guy killed 23 El Pasoans, and he came into town on purpose just to kill Hispanics,” he said.
“And that our government does not demand the death penalty when it has it at its disposal is a farce.”
Crusius’ lawyers argued that their client had been diagnosed with an intellectual disability, which should be a red flag to prosecutors.
They said Crusius was “diagnosed with severe, lifelong neurological and mental disabilities” and was treated with antipsychotic drugs after his arrest shortly after the El Paso massacre.
The prison’s mental health staff determined that the then 21-year-old was in a “psychotic state”.
Crusius’ mental conditions were exposed in a request from his lawyers for more time to investigate these “mitigating issues” due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Crusius’ mental health condition, which has not been previously reported, was revealed in a request from his lawyers for more time for the investigation
“The attorney must gather all the information necessary to brief experts who will then be able to question Mr. Crusius in prison and provide expert opinions on his mental state at the time of the shooting,” the filing reads, CBS reports DFW.
“As of now, no experts can accomplish these things as they are either required to stay at home by the government or their employers, or are in a high-risk category for COVID and cannot travel to meet Mr. Crusius.”
The court papers also state that Crusius was in a special school for much of his schooling, but does not address his mental health. A lawyer for his family, Christopher Ayres, declined to comment.
Crusius was arrested shortly after the August 3, 2019 shooting.
Police later said he confessed to driving from his home near Dallas to the border town to attack Mexicans.
Shortly before the attack, prosecutors said he posted a racist screed online that railed against Hispanics coming to the United States.
Crusius pleaded not guilty.
The August 3, 2019 El Paso shooting left dozens injured and eventually killed 23 people
About four dozen people were hit by gunfire and 20 were killed instantly during the August 3, 2019 shooting.
Two other victims died of their wounds two days later. Another victim died at the end of April 2020.
Police said they arrested Crusius near the shooting after he surrendered to officers and told them he was targeting “Mexicans”.
They also credited him with a four-page racist screed denouncing a Hispanic “invasion” of Texas and the United States and calling for ethnic and racial segregation.
Police said they arrested Crusius near the shooting after he surrendered to officers and told them he was targeting “Mexicans”. FBI agents after the August 3, 2019 shooting
The store where the shooting took place reopened in November 2019. Community employees and residents erected a memorial at the store
The shooting was the largest terrorist attack on Hispanics in modern history and spread fear throughout the Latino community.
After the attack, El Paso police said the Walmart had previously hired off-duty armed cops to guard larger stores but eventually removed them.
The store where filming took place reopened three months later.