Federal prosecutors declined Tuesday to seek the death penalty for the alleged Walmart shooter who killed 23 shoppers in an El Paso branch of the store in 2019.
The decision is consistent with the Department of Justice’s practice of not pursuing capital punishment in federal cases since President Joe Biden took office, according to local reports.
Patrick Crusius is accused of driving 10 hours from Allen, Texas and casing the busy Walmart to make sure it was filled with Hispanic people before gunning down 23 shoppers with an AK-47 and injuring 22 others on Aug. 3, 2019.
“The United States of America hereby notifies the Court and Defendant Patrick Wood Crusius that the Government will not seek the death penalty in the instant case,” stated the one-sentence filing, according to El Paso Matters.
Crusius is facing federal hate crime charges as well as murder charges for his actions and the case is scheduled to go before a judge in January next year.
In a hate-filled manifesto posted online moments before the attack, the now 24-year-old complained of a “Hispanic invasion of Texas,” writing that he was “simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by an invasion,” prosecutors claim. --->READ MORE HERE
federal officials announced Tuesday afternoon that they will not seek the Death Penalty against Patrick Crusius, the accused shooter behind the Aug. 3 Walmart massacre in El Paso.
The filing was made by First Assistant United States Attorney Margaret Leachman, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, here in El Paso.
Crusius is accused of targeting Mexicans during the mass shooting that left dozens wounded and killed 23 people. The 24-year-old is charged with federal hate crimes and firearms violations and has pleaded not guilty.
Crusius could still face the death penalty if convicted on a state capital murder charge.
Federal prosecutors did not explain in their court filing why they won’t to seek the death penalty for Crusius, although he could still face execution if convicted in state court.
The decision not to pursue the death penalty in Crusius’ case could be a defining moment for the Justice Department, which has sent mixed signals on policies regarding the federal death penalty that President Joe Biden pledged to abolish during his presidential campaign. Biden is the first president to openly oppose the death penalty and his election raised the hopes of abolition advocates, who have since been frustrated by a lack of clarity on how the administration might end federal executions or whether that’s the objective.
The decision comes weeks after Jaime Esparza, the former district attorney in El Paso, took over as U.S. attorney for West Texas. Esparza said when he was district attorney that he would pursue the death penalty in Crusius’ case. A spokesman for Esparza’s office referred questions to the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., where another spokesman declined to comment. --->READ MORE HERE
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