Shooter who killed 23 at Texas Walmart gets 90 consecutive life sentences and may still face death penalty

The white gunman who shot and killed 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas in a racist attack on Hispanic customers has been sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences for the 2019 massacre.

Patrick Crusius, 24, pled guilty earlier this year to almost 50 federal charges of hate crimes – one of the largest hate crime cases in the US.

Crusius was wearing a jumpsuit and shackles and didn’t visibly react as the verdict was announced, the AP noted.

He drove more than 700 miles from his Dallas-area home in order to attack Hispanics with an AK-style rifle at the Walmart, where the shooting took place inside and outside the store, according to police.

Just before he started shooting, Crusius posted a racist message online saying that Texas was at risk of a Hispanic “invasion”.

Republicans have in the years that have passed since the massacre described migrants crossing the US-Mexico border as an “invasion” and dismissed critics arguing that the rhetoric spurs anti-immigrant opinions as well as violence.

Crusius pled guilty in February after federal prosecutors removed the possibility of the death penalty. But prosecutors on the state level in Texas have said that they will attempt to place Crusius on death row at his state court trial, a date for which is yet to be set.

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