#el paso mass shooting

[whenweallvote]

On August 3, 2019, an armed white supremacist drove for nearly 10 hours to a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, where he killed 23 people and injured dozens more. The FBI classified this attack on the Latino community as a hate crime and an act of domestic terrorism.

Five years later, communities across the country continue to experience these tragedies. In 2024, there have been more mass shootings than days of the year so far. Our hearts are with the entire community and everyone impacted by gun violence.

Gun violence prevention is on the ballot this November, and our vote is our voice. Register to vote today at weall.vote/register. 🙏🏽

[raindropcascade]

what an embarrassing indictment of American politics that this insensitive clown with his rictus grin is a viable candidate for office

[filosofablogger]

Good People Doing Good Things -- Helpers

I must beg your forgiveness this morning, for I am reprising a ‘good people’ post from August 2019.  I am simply running out of steam at the moment, and did not think I had it in me to do justice to any good people I would have found this week.  This one is heartwarming and … you might want a few tissues at hand for the first story!  I promise new material next week … thank you for your…

[grubdiedagain]

patrick crusius (aka chud) most recent court appearance since 2019

informational post

[arctic-hands]

Any other physically disabled Americans feel absolute dread over how we can't escape and will be left behind in a mass shooting? I've seen talk about how we're boned if we're in an upper floor during a fire, but have yet to know of any discussion about what we're supposed to do in a shooting.

(Depressing real world shit about the El Paso shooting below)

I remember right after El Paso a young, able-bodied woman was sobbing on camera about how she was trying to help an old woman with a cane escape but as she heard the gunman getting closer she panicked, apologized to the woman, then let her go and ran away. And she had no idea what happened to the old woman with a cane.

I do sincerely believe the abled woman will be haunted by this for the rest of her life. And I understand how panic works. But I sincerely believe the abled deserves to be haunted for the rest of her life.

I'm thirty. I use a cane now. Even before I started using a cane (and I should have be using one years ago), I was incapable of running. After El Paso, after hearing that story my crisis plan was to stab myself with the epi-pen I needed at the time–there were concerns at the time I'd have an allergic reaction to one of my meds–and ride the adrenaline to ignore the pain and inability to breathe until I got to safety. But I no longer have or need an epipen. And I use a cane now. Back then my abled roommate said he would hoist me up and carry me out, but we're no longer friends and no longer live with each other, let alone hang out together.

I understand panic makes us irrational and survival instincts kick in above all else. But I also understand that I and everyone else like me will be left to die.

(I still have no idea what happened to the old woman with the cane.)

[dontmean2bepoliticalbut]

[news4dzhozhar]

White supremacist to spend rest of life in prison for 2019 Walmart mass shooting

**So, he killed 23 people based on their race and while labeled a white supremacist that committed a mass murder hate crime, he managed to avoid getting the death penalty. You can't tell me it's not because he's white & his victims weren't. A blatant double standard. If he were Muslim he'd have gotten the DP so fast it would make your head spin.**

“What happened was a cold, calculated scheme targeting immigrants and Hispanics,” Hanna said. “A shooting spree that spared no one. It was not a crime of passion. It was not an accident. It was a calculated act that he planned."

The gunman drove 700 miles from Allen, Texas, to El Paso on the morning of Aug. 3, 2019, and parked in front of the El Paso Walmart at 7101 Gateway Blvd. West, near Cielo Vista Mall.

He then exited his vehicle carrying a GP WASR-10 semiautomatic rifle — a Romanian-made firearm variant of the AK-47 assault rifle — loaded with 7.62 x 39 mm hollow-point ammunition, court documents state.

He began gunning down innocent people in the parking lot before moving into the store and killing and wounding dozens more who were in the aisles and a bank inside the large store. The death toll rose to 23 people in the days and weeks following the shooting.

He confessed to law enforcement that he was targeting Hispanics to dissuade Mexicans and other Hispanics from coming to the United States.

The white supremacist claimed the motive behind the shooting was because "they (Mexicans and other Hispanics) were to blame" and "he was trying to defend his country," federal prosecutors said.

Minutes before the shooting, he posted a racist diatribe online outlining his hatred for Hispanics and his motive for committing one of the deadliest shootings in U.S. history.

The charges were 23 counts of hate crimes resulting in death, 23 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a crime of violence, 22 counts of hate crimes involving an attempt to kill, and 22 counts of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

[darknessillumina]

rest in peace ⚰️😔

[tenth-sentence]

A few months after the Poway attack, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius carried out a shooting in a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, killing twenty-two people.

"Going Dark: The Secret Social Lives of Extremists" - Julia Ebner

[bloomingonionbitch]

from The Paris Review, Issue 229 (Summer 2019)

(you can also listen to the piece on TPR podcast)

[bugbuoyx]

I don't care what side y'all are on- we need to stop using "truther" and "denier". Jewish folks have asked time and time again and y'all aren't listening, mainly because I think people are just allergic to listening to jewish people. I'm not even jewish and I've noticed that. I'm also only making this post because y'all refuse to listen to jewish people.

For context: "-Truther" and "-Denier" stem from antisemitic conspiracies. In this article by the ADL (mainly about 9-11 "truthers") directly states that antisemitism is rife in "trutherism". Quote: "Unfortunately, the antisemitism that ADL has documented for the past twenty years regarding 9/11 conspiracy theories can also be found in many of these other “truther” communities. Antisemites attribute mass shootings in the U.S., including Sandy Hook and El Paso, as well as the Charlie Hebdo attack in France, to the machinations of Jews or Zionists"

Later in the article they note that these "trutherism" movements, which transandrophobes are using to refer to trans jewish men, are directly supported by neo-nazis. Quote: "In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups were quick to accept and promulgate antisemitic conspiracy theories to explain the attacks because these theories confirmed their already established belief in the inherent evil of Jews."

All of this is amid a recent rise in attacks against jewish people and synagogues. I am stating it right now, if you use these phrases you are being antisemitic. You are equating trans jewish men talking about their experiences to neo-nazis. Jewish people have already said this and I am simply repeating it because I refuse to allow antisemitism to propogate in the queer community.

[archivaltrigger]

“Because the US government was not acting on mass shootings, we directly attacked a trait Americans are most known for: their pride in their country. Change the Ref created the Shamecards, a postcard collection designed to demand gun law reform from Congress. Subverting the traditional greeting cards that depict each city’s landmarks, ours show what cities are becoming known for.”

shamecards.org

There is 54 cards total representing:

Annapolis — Maryland: Capital Gazette Shooting

Atlanta — Georgia: Day Trading Firm Shootings

Benton — Kentucky: Marshall County High School Shooting

Bethel — Alaska: Regional High School Shooting

Binghamton — New York: Binghamton Shooting

Blacksburg — Virginia: Virginia Tech Massacre

Camden – New Jersey: Walk of Death Massacre

Charleston — South Carolina: Charleston Church Shooting

Charlotte — North Carolina: 2019 University Shooting

Cheyenne — Wyoming: Senior Home Shooting

Chicago — Illinois: Medical Center Shooting

Clovis — New Mexico: Clovis Library Shooting

Columbine — Colorado: Columbine

Dayton — Ohio: Dayton Shooting

Edmond — Oklahoma: Post Office Shooting

El Paso — Texas: El Paso Shooting

Ennis — Montana: Madison County Shooting

Essex Junction — Vermont: Essex Elementary School Shooting

Geneva — Alabama: Geneva County Massacre.

Grand Forks — North Dakota: Grand Forks Shooting

Hesston — Kansas: Hesston Shooting

Honolulu — Hawaii: First Hawaiian Mass Shooting

Huntington — West Virginia: New Year's Eve Shooting

Indianapolis — Indiana: Hamilton Avenue Murders

Iowa City — Iowa: University Shooting

Jonesboro — Arkansas: Middle School Massacre

Kalamazoo — Michigan: Kalamazoo Shooting

Lafayette — Louisana: Lafayette Shooting

Las Vegas — Nevada: Las Vegas Strip Shooting

Madison — Maine: Madison Rampage

Meridian — Mississippi: Meridian Company Shooting

Moscow — Idaho: Moscow Rampage

Nashville — Tennessee: Nashville Waffle House shooting

Newtown — Connecticut: Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

Omaha — Nebraska: Westroads Mall shooting

Orlando — Florida: Pulse Nightclub Shooting

Parkland — Florida: Parkland School Shooting

Pelham — New Hampshire: Wedding Shooting

Pittsburgh — Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting

Prices Corner — Delaware: Delaware Shooting

Red Lake — Minnesota: Indian Reservation Shooting

Roseburg — Oregon: Umpqua Community Collage Shooting

Salt Lake City — Utah: Salt Lake City Mall Shooting

San Diego — California: San Ysidro Massacre

Santa Fe — Texas: Santa Fe School Shooting

Schofield — Wisconsin: Marathon County Shooting

Seattle — Washington: Capitol Hill Massacre

Sisseton — South Dakota: Sisseton Massacre

St. Louis — Missouri: Power Plant Shooting

Sutherland Springs — Texas: Sutherland Springs Church Shooting

Tucson — Arizona: Tocson Shooting

Wakefield — Massachusetts: Tech Company Massacre

Washington — D.C.: Navy Yard Shooting

Westerly — Rhode Island: Assisted-Living Complex Rampage

[antifainternational]

Far-Right Mass Shootings, May 2022-May 2023

Now that we know that the mass murderer in Allen, Texas was a far-right extremist and incel (as well as that puzzling but not-that-uncommon mix of being a racialized neo-nazi/white supremacist), we wanted to illustrate that mass shootings by the far-right are not aberrations with this list of similar events from over the last twelve months: December 23, 2022: A gunman opens fire in Paris, killing 3 Kurdish people & wounding 3 more in a plan to “kill non-European foreigners.” The attacker had just been released from prison after attacking migrants in Paris with a sword the year before. December 19-20, 2022: 22-year-old Anderson Aldrich enters a CO. gay bar with an assault rifle & opens fire, killing five and wounding 25 others before he is subdued. November 25, 2022: A 16-year-old former student storms two schools in Aracruz, Brazil, armed with two pistols and wearing a bulletproof vest emblazoned with a swastika. The teen shoots 16 people in the rampage, killing three of them. October 12, 2022: After posting an online manifesto against Jewish & LGBTQ+ people, a Bratislava, Slovakia teen shoots three people outside a local gay bar, killing two and wounding the third person before fleeing. The suspect was found dead the next day. September 27, 2022: Brothers Mark & Michael Sheppard are charged with manslaughter for opening fire on a group of migrants getting water near Hudspeth County, TX. One victim died from gunshot wounds, and one is recovering at an El Paso hospital. September 26, 2022: A gunman wearing a balaclava and a t-shirt with a swastika emblazoned on it enters an elementary school in Izhevsk, Russia, killing 15 people - 11 of them children - and wounding another 39 before turning the gun on himself. September 11, 2022: 53-year-old Igor Lanis’ obsession with far-right conspiracies ends when he guns down his wife, 25-year-old daughter, & family dog, before turning his shotgun on responding police, who shoot him dead. Only his daughter survives. August 9, 2022: A group of Black men helping someone jump-start a car in a Macon, GA. Wal-Mart parking lot are subjected to racial abuse by another man who then pulls a gun and begins shooting at them. May 15, 2022: 68-year-old David Wenwei Chou is charged with hate crimes after storming a Taiwanese church in Laguna Woods, CA. and shooting parishoners, killing one and injuring five others

May 14, 2022: An 18-year-old white supremacist opens fire in a supermarket in a black neighbourhood in Buffalo, NY, killing ten customers and wounding three others while livestreaming the attack.

May 11, 2022: A masked gunman walks shoots 3 Korean women working in a Dallas hair salon. Authorities believe the incident is connected to two earlier drive-by shootings targeting Asian-owned businesses in the Dallas area on April 2nd and May 10th. This is just a list of mass shootings committed by bigots, fascists, and far-right extremists over the last 12 months. We haven't included shooting with less than two victims, thwarted mass shootings, or any of bombings, stabbings, vehicle attacks, or other acts of violence.

In 2022 we documented 477 violent incidents motivated by hate or committed by bigots, fascists, or right-wing extremists, including 112 shootings. These attacks killed 366 people and injured 399 others. Read our 2022 report here. When we say anti-fascism = self-defence, we meant it. The endpoint for far-right ideology is mass murder. Fascists intend to do harm to our communities and will seize on any opportunity to hurt others. The only thing stopping them is ourselves. WE PROTECT US!

[commiepinkofag]

Club Q shooting survivors announce lawsuit seeking government accountability

On the two-year anniversary of the deadly Club Q mass shooting in Colorado Springs, survivors and family members of those killed announced a federal lawsuit claiming El Paso County officials and Club Q management could have prevented the shooting.  The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court of Colorado, claims the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners and former El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder are culpable in the shooting because they refused to enforce Colorado’s “red flag” law, and that Club Q owners did not implement sufficient security measures to keep its patrons safe. “The lawsuit seeks justice for the victims and their families, holding those responsible accountable for their failure to protect the community despite clear warning signs and foreseeable risk,” Huber said at a press conference announcing the lawsuit Tuesday in Denver. “The lawsuit underscores that this tragedy was not an unavoidable act of violence, but the result of systemic failures by those entrusted with safeguarding the public.”

Lindsey Toomer | Colorado Newsline | 20 November 2024

Read More >

[longliveblackness]

The Sharpeville Massacre occurred on 21st March, 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa. It resulted in the largest number of South African deaths (up to that point) in a protest against apartheid.

Sharpeville, a black suburb outside of Vereeniging (about 50 miles south of Johannesburg), was untouched by anti-apartheid demonstrations that occurred in surrounding towns throughout the 1950s. By 1960, however, anti-apartheid activism reached the town.

In March 1960, Robert Sobukwe, a leader in the anti-apartheid Pan-Africanist Congress organized the town's first anti-apartheid protest. In order to reduce the possibility of violence, he wrote a letter to the police commissioner to emphasize that it would be non-violent.

On March 21, an estimated 7,000 South Africans gathered in front of the Sharpeville police station to protest against the restrictive pass laws. Nearly 300 police officers arrived to put an end to the peaceful protest.

As they attempted to disperse the crowd, a police officer was knocked down and many in the crowd began to move forward to see what had happened. Police witnesses claimed that stones were thrown, and in a panicked reaction, they opened fire.

As the protesters tried to flee the violent scene, police continued to shoot into the crowd.

The police version, only 69 Africans were killed and 186 were wounded, with most shot in the back.

The Sharpeville Massacre awakened the international community to the horrors of apartheid. The massacre also sparked hundreds of mass protests by black South Africans.

On March 30, the South African government declared a state of emergency which made any protest illegal. The ban remained in effect until August 31, 1960. During those five months roughly 25,000 people were arrested throughout the nation.

The government's repressive measures intensified and expended the opposition to apartheid, ushering in three decades of resistance & protest

With the election of Nelson Mandela as president of South Africa in 1994, the apartheid system ended. In 1994, Mandela signed the nation's first post-apartheid constitution near the site of the 1960 massacre.

•••

La Masacre de Sharpeville sucedió el 21 de marzo de 1960, en el municipio de Sharpeville, Sudáfrica. Resultó en la mayor cantidad de muertes de sudafricanos (hasta ese punto) en un protesta en contra de la segregación racial.

Sharpeville, un suburbio habitado por personas negras en las afueras de Vereeniging (cincuenta millas al sur de Johannesburg), había permanecido intacto de las demostraciones anti-segregadoras que estaban ocurriendo en ciudades cercanas a lo largo de los 1950. En 1960, el activismo anti segregacionista llegó a la ciudad.

En marzo de 1960, Robert Sobukwe, un lider del Congreso Panafricano Anti-Segregacionista organizó la primera protesta anti segregacional. Para poder reducir la posibilidad de violencia, le escribió una carta al comisionado de la policía para enfatizar que seria una protesta pacífica.

El 21 de marzo, alrededor de 7,000 sudafricanos se reunieron en frente de la estación policial de Sharpeville para protestar en contra de las leyes restrictivas de paso (desplazamiento). Alrededor de 300 policías llegaron para poner fin a la protesta.

Mientras intentaban dispersar a la multitud, un oficial de policía fue derribado y muchos en la multitud comenzaron a acercarse para ver qué había sucedido. Testigos policiales afirmaron que se arrojaron piedras y, en una reacción de pánico, abrieron fuego. Mientras los protestantes estaban tratando de huir de la escena violenta, la policía siguió disparando contra la multitud.

Según la versión policial, 69 africanos fueron asesinados y 186 resultaron heridos, la mayoría disparados en la espalda.

La Masacre de Sharpeville despertó a la comunidad internacional a los horrores de la segregación racial. La masacre también provocó cientos de protestas masivas de sudafricanos negros.

El 30 de marzo, el gobierno sudafricano declaró un estado de emergencia, lo cual hizo que cualquier protesta fuese ilegal. La prohibición duró hasta el 31 de agosto de 1960. Durante esos cinco meses alrededor de 25,000 personas fueron arrestadas a lo largo de la nación.

Las medidas represivas del gobierno intensificaron y expandieron la oposición a la segregación racial, dando paso a tres décadas de resistencia y protesta.

Con la elección de Nelson Mandela como presidente de Sudáfrica en 1994, el sistema segregacional terminó. En 1994, Mándela firmó la primera constitución post segregación racial, cerca del lugar donde sucedió la masacre del año 1960.